There were just minutes to go with Chelsea 3-1 up against Wolves when Enzo Maresca turned to face his bench in disgust. Having stood on the touchline prowling for almost all of the evening, the Italian went to sit down instead of shouting his frustrations into the cold London air.

The culprit for this was Joao Felix. On as a substitute in a double change for Maresca with the game wrapped up, he was given less than 10 minutes to make an impression. It means that in 2025 he is yet to play even 20 minutes of league action.

Having been the one who won the free kick that Reece James converted last week against Bournemouth, his impact wasn't really needed here. Chelsea had put things to bed thanks to a second-half burst with goals from Noni Madueke and Marc Cucurella, and Felix had little to gain from the outing.

But still, in a microcosm, this moment saw Maresca toss his head back in anger and seemed to sum it all up. Twice in a matter of seconds, right in front of the Chelsea boss, Felix gained possession and looked to take on the yellow shirts around him.

Jadon Sancho had completed a nice nutmeg in the centre of the park not far away a short while earlier, also on as a sub, and as Felix looked to one-up his teammate he lost the ball. Both times it was attempted trickery that saw him dispossessed.

Given that Maresca had been clapping his players for passing backwards during stages of the first half when Wolves reacted well to going a goal behind - and just that his general schtick as manager is to demand control - Felix's actions did not (and possibly, in a wider sense, simply do no) match what is being asked of him. It is no surprise that his only three league starts have come against newly promoted teams.

Even with more than 20 minutes left and two goals ahead, Maresca waited to properly make changes. Reece James and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall went off after 77 minutes with Felix not called on for nearly another 10. His lack of trust in the squad continues to be shown and Felix's maverick involvement might just have explained why.

The nomadic forward has been linked in recent days with an exit, if not this month then over the summer. As someone who does not retain possession or create in a reliable manner, it is understandable why. He does not fit the mould of a Maresca player.

Those who do are becoming increasingly strained. It was notable that when Jose Sa went down with an injury in the first half Maresca called across the most important players on the pitch. His defenders got the attention first during the rest whilst Wolves' No.1 was being treated - possibly with the advice to punch more passes through the lines - and so did the wingers.

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Tosin Adarabioyo, scorer of the opening goal, was the loudest voice on the pitch once more for Chelsea and could be heard cutting through the crowd noise. He continued his role as chief organiser, especially in a defence that saw Trevoh Chalobah play his first game of the season for Chelsea since returning whilst the club captain, Reece James, was eased back into the XI himself.

This group of three impressed the most for Chelsea on the night and showed that they can be turned to by Maresca. His wingers are less predictable, although that is how the head coach likes things in the final third.

Madueke and Pedro Neto had success in finding space out wide but didn't manage to provide the output that much of Chelsea's general play deserved. Fortunately for Maresca, the breakthrough came shortly after his intervention. It was hardly from the playbook but would have felt nice nonetheless.

The lack of faith placed in this group to sustain performance levels for long enough to get rewards is telling, though. It only took 10 minutes of a half-baked Wolves response for things to turn apprehensive. That is no doubt down to the poor second half record in the past month.

The response from Stamford Bridge was of relieved celebration rather than jubilation when Cucurella and Madueke did eventually bundle in because it was here, once again, that Maresca saw his side relinquish control of a match. From an utterly dominant opening half hour - shown by the 10-1 shot count and 0.98-0.07 xG swing to 10-5 and 0.98-0.70 by the break - Chelsea looked totally flummoxed and ruffled.

Maresca showed increasing levels of angst at his players failing to settle down and the short period of tension threatened to undo what had been yet another good display from the get-go. He was asking for more composure on the ball and was not happy to see players take matters into their own hands late on, as shown by his reaction to Felix.

In the end, Maresca's buoyant kisses to the crowd were symbolic of a Chelsea team who have emitted frailty in the past few weeks. Their response to Robert Sanchez-induced adversity was better than before but still left plenty to work on.

For Maresca that is a new challenge but his fierce manner and willingness to express dissatisfaction towards Madeuke post-match and also Felix at the end show that things are getting serious. At times the Italian can be criticised for being a pawn of the Chelsea system but when it comes to winning football matches that doesn't matter.

His response here showed that he is aware of just how much results matter. That isn't going to change any time soon.