Under the reign of former boss Roberto Di Matteo, Hazard, Mata and Oscar featured in almost every starting line-up the Italian fielded. However, Benitez has not followed in his predecessor’s ways, with Mata and Oscar finding themselves on the bench during Chelsea’s recent Premier League encounters with Fulham and West Ham.
The Spaniard also dropped Oscar for the Blues’ 6-1 Champions League rout of Nordsjaelland on Wednesday, and he shared with the club’s official website the importance of preventing the star trio from becoming fatigued.
“I can see the quality of these three players and when the team is in possession they are very dangerous, so we have to find the balance. Why I am changing players sometimes is they were playing too many games and you cannot be fresh if you are playing two games a week with this intensity in December,” Benitez stated.
“You have to manage the squad and if you have some other good players, you have to use them if you want to stay fine until the end of the season when you have to fight for trophies. In a game in which you can be in possession, you can use them all. If it is a game you have to manage because the opposition are physically strong then you may have another approach, but they can play together because they are very good players.”
