Enzo Maresca has doubled down on his style of play, making sure not to overreact after failing to beat League One side Wrexham in his first match as Chelsea boss.
After taking a 1-0 lead into half-time thanks to a goal from Christopher Nkunku, the Blues found themselves behind with 20 minutes remaining due to some shaky defending before a late strike from Lesley Ugochukwu spared the manager’s blushes.
“In this moment, we started just two weeks ago, it’s important that us as the staff and the people can start to see the identity of the team. Tonight it was quite clear,” Maresca said at full-time, finding the positives in a characteristically dull pre-season match.
Breaking down a low block was a challenge which consistently confounded Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea, and Maresca is yet to find a solution in his first weeks in charge. Despite finishing the match with 75 per cent possession and 700 completed passes, the Blues managed just three shots on target.
“It does not matter about the level of the opposition; when they sit back with 11 players behind the ball, it’s always difficult to find space and solutions. It is not easy,” he added. Maresca went on to admit that playing out from the back can cause problems defensively, with a pair of second-half defensive errors highlighting an area of improvement for Chelsea.
“It is one of the risks that you have trying to build from behind,” he said. “I think you are going to concede in different ways, so you need to decide in which way you need to concede a goal. Sometimes teams that try to build from the back concede goals but I think you are going to score more than you concede.”
He continued: “For sure, we did many things we can improve, but we started just two weeks ago. Tonight was important to start seeing the identity of the team and the identity is there.”
Maresca made 11 changes at half-time, offering minutes to new signings and academy prospects. Marc Guiu, an 18-year-old striker signed from Barcelona in early July, made his debut, while Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia returned to the line-up after watching the vast majority of the 2023/24 season from the sidelines, both impressing.
“At this moment for them, it is important to get minutes, to use every training session. For one year without getting minutes, it is difficult mentally. They need a boost, energy and 45 minutes is going to help both of them.”
While the draw was not the dream start Maresca will have hoped for upon signing for Chelsea, he remains patient with his new squad.
“The result for us is always important but in this moment, also we need to judge different things. Tonight the target was to give all of them 45 minutes. It is too early to think about the first XI.”
Chelsea are back in action on Saturday evening, facing Celtic in Indiana ahead of a trip to Atlanta where they will face Club America.
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