Enzo Maresca reveals half-time message that inspired Chelsea win amid red card verdict | OneFootball

Blues were error-strewn in opening period against Nottingham Forest but turned on the style after the break

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Enzo Maresca has revealed his half-time message that helped spark Chelsea’s resurgence at Nottingham Forest, while he insists he is not concerned over his team’s worsening disciplinary record.

However, Chelsea picked up before the interval as Andrey Santos and Pedro Neto both went close, before a triple substitution from Maresca at the break worked wonders, with Moises Caicedo, Jamie Gittens and Marc Guiu replacing Romeo Lavia, Alejandro Garnacho and Andrey Santos.

Josh Acheampong headed home his first senior Chelsea goal four minutes following half-time, with Neto then delivering a second just three minutes later from a free-kick and man-of-the-match Reece James wrapping up a 3-0 victory late on with a volley.

Asked if he had been angry at half-time, Maresca, who explained that his changes were designed in order to protect the fitness of the likes of Lavia after his first start of the season, said: “No, my message at half-time was, guys, off the ball, the way we are pressing, we are good.

“On the ball, we are not good enough. Because first half, we made three or four mistakes in the build-up, when we conceded. Like you say, lazy? What do you say in English? Lazy? Lazy. Yeah, I think the word is lazy. No, anyway, lazy mistake. We can avoid that.

“And second half, I think also we adjusted a little bit. And we were a little bit better.”

Maresca then clarified: “Yeah, I don't think it's lazy. It's sloppy. Sloppy. We looked sloppy in the build-up. We made some mistakes that were not good enough.”

An impressive afternoon in the end for Chelsea - one that brought a swift end to Ange Postecoglou’s 39-day Forest managerial reign just minutes after the full-time whistle - was only soured by another sending off, with Malo Gusto receiving his marching orders in the closing stages after picking up a second yellow card.

It was a fourth dismissal in the last six games for Chelsea, though Maresca - who served a touchline ban at the City Ground after being sent off following his celebrations against Liverpool before the international break - insists he is not worried as he praised the desire of his players.

“Again, it's something that we can do better, but I'm not concerned,” he said. “I know that there are some of you that say, why is he not concerned?

“I'm not concerned, because I like to analyse. It's a moment that we consider a red card, yes. We can avoid that, yes, for sure we can avoid that.

“But also for me, the desire of the players is important. Today, with 3-0, 90 minutes the game is finished. Malo can avoid that, because it's useless to make a second foul on a yellow card, for sure.

“But also the good part is, Malo is showing that he doesn't want to concede nothing. They don't want to concede a goal, they are playing for a clean sheet. It's the balance, we can avoid that for sure.”