Enzo Maresca defends Chelsea stars after Blues suffer Man City battering

Enzo Maresca defended his Chelsea players despite a chastening defeat by Man City (Image: Getty)

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca insists he was not concerned by the decision-making of his Blues players in their 4-2 defeat by Manchester City. Erling Haaland struck a hat-trick, including two inside the opening five minutes, to condemn Chelsea to another disappointing pre-season loss.

Oscar Bobb scored City’s other goal, with Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke on the scoresheet for Chelsea. But Maresca’s players made some eyebrow-raising individual errors, just weeks before they face City in their Premier League opener.

Maresca says he is not worried, though. The Italian coach believes his team just need to get to grips with different moments in matches, and called on his senior players to show better organisation.

"Not concerned because we need time to understand the moments," Maresca said. "It's just about when you concede and you are on the pitch, you need to talk to each other and say, 'Guys, we conceded' and try to organise a little bit.

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"That is exactly what I said. After the second goal, I called Reece [James] to the bench and I told him, 'Okay, now we start the game and try to do things in a different way because we conceded two goals'. If you review the first-half, apart from the first five minutes, nothing to say."

Maresca agreed with a suggestion that the poor condition of the pitch at the Ohio Stadium contributed to a couple of errors. However, he stopped short of using it as an excuse for the defeat

The 44-year-old continued: "Sometimes when we say something it sounds like an excuse so I do not want to say this but for sure, the pitch doesn't help. With the way we like to play, the pitch needs to be quick but it was slowing it down.

"In this moment, we need to learn things. Probably more than the goals we conceded, we need to learn that when you concede one, you cannot concede one and then after two minutes another one.

Chelsea suffered a concerning defeat against Manchester City (Image: Getty)

“This is something that I just said to the players; we need to learn. When we concede one, we need to become stronger so we don't concede another one."

Pressed on whether that is a psychological problem, Maresca responded: "That's why I said in this moment, sometimes we need to understand a bit better when we go back, when we play inside or outside, this kind of things.

"After three or four weeks, it is completely normal. Apart from the first four or five minutes, the game, for me, was good."

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Enzo Maresca defends Chelsea stars after Blues suffer Man City battering

Enzo Maresca defends Chelsea stars after Blues suffer Man City battering

Enzo Maresca defends Chelsea stars after Blues suffer Man City battering

Enzo Maresca defends Chelsea stars after Blues suffer Man City battering

Enzo Maresca defends Chelsea stars after Blues suffer Man City battering