Chelsea told it has major problem by Wrexham manager after pre-season friendly

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson pointed out a significant issue for Chelsea after managing to secure a 2-2 draw against the Premier League giants on Wednesday night.

"You have to put it into context, they spent so much money on that team and we were in the National League two years ago and we went toe-to-toe and could have won the game," Parkinson remarked after the match, suggesting Chelsea still has a lot of work to do.

Chelsea had to fight their way back to avoid a humiliating defeat against Wrexham, who recently clinched promotion to League One, after losing their initial lead. This was the first match in charge for Chelsea's new head coach Enzo Maresca, who remained positive despite the lacklustre performance. "The result for us is always important, but it's more important to judge the performance," he said.

"I was very happy with the performance, especially the first half, but second half we conceded two goals."

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It was the inaugural game on the pre-season tour in the US for both teams, but tensions flared within two minutes as Wrexham's James McClean clashed with Chelsea's Levi Colwill and had to be restrained by teammates and coaches. McClean made a reckless challenge on Colwill during a safe period of possession for Chelsea, leading to the Blues defender retaliating by grabbing his opponent by the collar.

After the dust settled, it seemed like a standard match for Chelsea when Christopher Nkunku put them ahead after 35 minutes, smashing his shot into the goal following a defensive mishap that originated from Tyrique George's initial attempt. However, the second half witnessed a dramatic twist as the League One side stormed to an unexpected 2-1 lead.

Luke Bolton equalized with his first goal since joining Wrexham, taking advantage of a catastrophic miscommunication between Chelsea's Lucas Bergstrom and Wesley Fofana to tap into an unguarded net. With just 19 minutes remaining, Wrexham took the lead as Jack Marriott scored the standout goal of the game, outwitting Bergstrom and slotting his shot into the bottom-left corner.

Marriott's goal followed another careless period from the Chelsea defense, but Lesley Ugochukwu rescued the Premier League side with a late leveller, resulting in a 2-2 draw. Both teams can take positives from the match, but based on Wednesday's performance, Wrexham will be entering the next season with more confidence than Chelsea.

Parkinson's comments will strike a chord with Chelsea fans, as the club continues to grapple with finding its rhythm following the exit of former owner Roman Abramovich. During Abramovich's reign from 2003-2022, Chelsea did spend big, but the new ownership has maintained this pattern without a clear plan.

Todd Boehly, who also co-owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, took over from Abramovich and has now spent over £1.1 billion on transfer fees without anything to show for it. Chelsea has already racked up an £80million bill this summer on six new signings, all under a new head coach.

Maresca is now the third permanent head coach to take charge since Boehly came in, succeeding Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino. Bruno Saltor and Frank Lampard also took charge on an interim basis. Maresca will be under instant pressure to achieve results, especially after being given a healthy budget when walking through the door.

For Wrexham, Wednesday night was a constructive performance, holding its own against Premier League opposition and perhaps feeling unlucky not to record a famous victory. Wrexham are facing a new challenge in League One next season following back-to-back promotions but proved that they have no fear when it comes to superior teams.

Less can be said for Chelsea, as Maresca will have some defensive issues to resolve before the start of the season. Chelsea face elite opposition against the likes of Celtic, Club America, Manchester City and Real Madrid on their US tour, but will have no time to rest upon returning to the UK as Premier League champions City await them in the opening game of the 2024/25 season.

Liverpool.com says: Chelsea has followed the same approach as Liverpool in heading to the United States to prepare for the new Premier League season. But it wasn't a great start to their tour, which doesn't bode well with high hopes of kicking on and climbing up the table again next season. There's a long way to go, but at the moment Liverpool must be confident of retaining its advantage over the Blues in the Premier League standings.