Real Madrid 2 Chelsea 1: Maresca lays into shaky Blues defence as pre-season struggles continue but Lavia shines again
ENZO MARESCA keeps reminding Chelsea fans that they are trying a lot of different things on this pre-season tour.
Defending does not appear to be one of them.
The new Blues boss knows this is very much a work in progress, but his players are going to have to do a lot of learning on the job – and fast.
Real Madrid ripped through them time and again on the break across a chaotic first half in Charlotte as Chelsea’s pre-season tour came to an end.
Five games, five cities and a whole lot of questions.
They have been taken apart by Celtic and Manchester City too while Stateside.
Maresca said: “Any team wants to do something, they want to win games and compete.
“They have to work in the right way defensively. It’s difficult when you concede one goal or two, always starting behind.
“Today, again, for the first five minutes, we had two clear chances. When you concede and you are 1-0 behind, 2-0 behind, it becomes difficult.
“But overall, in terms of the things we are doing, we are improving and I’m quite happy.”
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
There have been positives, of course. Romeo Lavia looks fantastic, Noni Madueke has been confident and effective while a host of players who spent last season injured have a bank of minutes in the tank.
The Chelsea ownership know this is going to take time, they are completely overhauling the playing style at Stamford Bridge. But on this evidence the early weeks of the season could be hard to watch.
Meet Pep Guardiola disciple Enzo Maresca
ENZO MARESCA is considered among the most exciting young coaches on the planet.
Born in Italy in 1980, he managed to guide Leicester to the Championship title in his first season as Foxes boss.
His management career started at Italian minnows Ascoli before he was snapped up by Man City in 2020 to manage their Elite Development Squad.
He guided the youth team to the Premier League 2 title in his one season working for the Citizens – with Cole Palmer in the side.
His first senior job was with Parma but he was sacked after just a few months after failing to impress.
Despite the team playing in Serie B and Maresca having an impressive squad he was unable to get them on course for promotion.
He returned to Man City and worked as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants for the 2022/23 season as they won the Treble.
He took over relegated Leicester last summer and made an immediate impact, with the Foxes winning the Championship title.
Maresca showed his dedication to the job by living at the training ground for the first two months after his appointment.
He’s considered something of a Pep disciple and has said: “For a coach, it’s important to have the mentality of a chess player.”
During his playing career he played under Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi – and alongside ex-Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi.
Players still look confused and unsure of their roles when defending while chances hardly flowed against the Champions League winners – who were without a host of their big names.
Vinicius Jr was there, however, and tormented the Chelsea defenders – especially in the first half.
Maresca has already moaned about how his players defend with a high line and they were all over the place again in North Carolina.
Dani Ceballos grabbed the first, bundled in at the far post after a break was messily defended by Chelsea.
Vinicius opened the Blues up again with a fine ball in behind to setup the second. His pass was collected by Brahim Diaz who rounded new goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen and finished from an impressively tight angle.
Chelsea were much improved defensively after the break, though there was a slight feeling that Madrid were easing their way to the end of their tour.
Lessons are being slowly learned by Maresca’s new men – their second half improvement is an example of that – but the defending especially is something ingrained which the new boss is desperate to cut out.
The fact his side did not collapse to fall four down, as they did against Celtic and Manchester City, will have pleased Maresca, though that is fairly slim pickings with the opening game against the champions less than two weeks away.
