After Chelsea lost to Real Madrid in the preseason, Enzo Maresca concedes that the team has been concentrating on resolving a “problem” with their high line.
Real Madrid defeated Chelsea 2-1 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday night, bringing an end to Chelsea’s preseason tour of the country.
Prior to Noni Madueke scoring in the 39th minute, Madrid had taken the lead thanks to goals from Lucas Vazquez and Brahim Diaz.
On Sunday, Chelsea will play their final pre-season friendly at Stamford Bridge against Inter. On August 18, Chelsea will host champion Manchester City in their Premier League opening.
And while Maresca says he is happy with his side’s attacking output, the Italian concedes his players still have defensive issues to fix, including their high line.
‘It’s a problem we are trying to solve from pre-season, since day one,’ Maresca said.
‘One of my first meetings with the squad was about the amount of goals we conceded last year with the defensive line very high.
‘It’s something we are trying to work on. Today, offensively, we are there, the patterns are there. We created chances. The problem is defensively, when I say defensively I don’t just mean the defensive line, but in general, all the players.
‘Overall now it’s finished. We head back to London. We have Inter and then an official game.’
Asked if he had an explanation for Chelsea’s high line, Maresca replied: ‘It’s a habit.
‘We are not working on defensive lines so high. It’s a habit from last year, or years ago, I don’t know.
‘We are trying to drop the defensive line a little bit, usually about four or five metres, just to have some advantage.
‘Last year, we already conceded many goals with this problem. Hopefully we can solve it very soon.’