- Chelsea closed their pre-season tour of the United States with a 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid
- The Blues have conceded 12 goals in their five games on tour in the United States.
- Maresca’s side begin their Premier League campaign against Manchester City on August 8
Enzo Maresca says he is still trying to get Mauricio Pochettino’s philosophy out of his Chelsea players as he doesn’t want them to play with such a ridiculously high line.
Chelsea’s fifth and final friendly on their tour of the United States saw them lose 2-1 to Real Madrid, who regularly got behind the Blues by playing a single pass into space.
However, Maresca told reporters that this is not what he wants: “It is a problem that we have been trying to solve since pre-season, from day one. One of my first meetings with the team was about the number of goals we conceded last year with the defensive line being very high.
“It’s something we’re trying to work on. Today, offensively, we’re there, the patterns are there. We’re creating chances.
‘The problem is defensive. When I say ‘defensive’ I don’t just mean the defensive line, but all the players in general. Now everything is done. We return to London. We have Inter Milan and then an official match.’
Enzo Maresca was not satisfied with some things he saw from his team in the friendly defeat against Real Madrid
The Blues saw their tour of the United States end with a 2-1 defeat to the Champions League champions.
Chelsea will face Manchester City in their Premier League opener on August 18
Chelsea face Manchester City in the opening round of the Premier League season. Maresca, who does not want Pep Guardiola’s side to take advantage of his naivety, said: “It’s a habit. We are not working with defensive lines so high. It’s a habit from last year, or from years ago, I don’t know.
“We try to lower our defensive line a little, usually about four or five metres, to give ourselves an advantage. Last year we already conceded a lot of goals because of this problem. Hopefully we can solve it very soon.”
