Enzo Maresca doubled down on their playing style, being careful not to overreact after failing to beat the League One side Wrexham in his first match as Chelsea boss.
After taking a 1-0 half-time lead thanks to a Christopher Nkunku goal, the Blues found themselves behind with 20 minutes remaining due to some shaky defending before a late goal from Lesley Ugochukwu saved the manager’s blushes.
“At this moment, which we started just two weeks ago, it is important that we, as a team and as people, can start to see the identity of the team. Tonight it became quite clear,” Maresca said at full-time, finding the positives in a characteristically dull pre-season match.
Breaking a low block was a challenge that has always baffled Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea, and Maresca has yet to find a solution in his first few weeks in charge. Despite finishing the match with 75% possession and 700 completed passes, the Blues managed just three shots on goal.
“It doesn’t matter the level of opposition; when they sit with 11 players behind the ball, it is always difficult to find space and solutions. It’s not easy,” he added. Maresca admitted that playing from the back could cause defensive problems, with two defensive errors in the second half highlighting an area of improvement for Chelsea.
“It’s one of the risks you take when you try to build from behind,” he said. “I think you will concede goals in different ways, so you need to decide in what way you need to concede a goal. Sometimes teams that try to build from behind concede goals, but I think you will score more than you concede.”
He continued: “We’ve definitely done a lot of things that we can improve, but we only started 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, the 18-year-old striker signed from Barcelona at the start of July, made his debut, while Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia returned to the line-up after watching from the sidelines for the vast majority of the 2023/24 season, both impressing. .
“Right now it’s important for them to get minutes, to enjoy every training session. Spending a year without getting minutes is difficult mentally. They need momentum, energy and 45 minutes will help them both.”
Although the draw was not the dream start Maresca had hoped for when signing for Chelsea, he remains patient with his new team.
“The result for us is always important, but at this moment we also need to judge different things. Tonight the goal was to give them all 45 minutes. It’s too early to think about the first XI.”
Chelsea return to action on Saturday night, taking on Celtic in Indiana before a trip to Atlanta where they face Club America.
