“I think” – Enzo Maresca explains reason behind Chelsea playing better in the second half this season | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has explained why he believes Chelsea have been better in the second half of games so far this season.

The Blues travel to Newcastle on Saturday lunchtime looking to make it three wins in a row in all competitions, and a first win at St James’ Park since 2021.

Chelsea currently sit fourth in the league five points behind Aston Villa in third and six behind Manchester City in second.

Enzo Maresca on why Chelsea have been better in the second half

The build-up to the game has been dominated by speculation over the future of Maresca, amid links to the Manchester City job.

Maresca emphatically confirmed he’d be Chelsea manager next season, and the Blues will be hoping he can build on the success of last season.

Chelsea have tended to perform better in the second half of games this season. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

One thing with Chelsea this season has been the way they’ve started games slowly, and played much better in the second half, something Maresca tried to explain ahead of the Newcastle game.

“For sure, half-time is part of the game,” he told his pre-match press conference.

“It’s part of the plan. Many times, half-time will also change something. Sometimes in terms of players, sometimes in terms of tactically, it depends.

“But I think half-time is important for us. It’s important for any manager to try to adjust things, to see what is working well in the first-half or not, and try to change something.”

Players should be well rested for Newcastle game

Maresca made 11 changes to the team for the game against Cardiff meaning most players should be well rested ahead of the trip to St James’ Park.

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Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez didn’t feature at all, whilst the likes of Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto didn’t play more than 45 minutes.

Given it’s a busy period of the season it good news for Chelsea they managed to give some important rest ahead of three big games to round out the Christmas period.