Enzo Maresca says a high defensive line is a “habit” he wants to change at Chelsea.
The Blues conceded 12 goals in five pre-season friendlies, including two in the 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid on Tuesday.
When asked about the high line, the new boss told reporters: “It’s a habit. We don’t work on defensive lines that high. It’s a habit from last year or years ago, I don’t know. We try to lower the defensive line a little bit, usually about four or five meters, just to have some advantage.”
“Last year we already conceded a lot of goals because of this problem. Hopefully we can solve the problem very soon.”
“It’s a problem we’ve been trying to solve since day one, since pre-season. One of my first meetings with the team was about the number of goals we conceded last year, despite having a very high defensive line.
“That’s something we’re trying to work on. Offensively, we’re there today – the patterns are there. We created chances. The problem is defensively; when I say defensively, I don’t just mean the back line, but all the players in general.”
Maresca expressed hope that key names such as Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson will be back in action for the Premier League opening game against Manchester City on August 18.
Send us your thoughts on Chelsea’s last friendly, external
