Inside dressing room as Enzo Maresca blasts Chelsea squad for 'giving away presents' | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca opened up about his message to his Chelsea players in the dressing room after Saturday's disappointing 3-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.

It was a complicated game to assess from a head coach's perspective.

The players initially ran the game plan quite well, as shown by the comfortable 1-0 lead at the break thanks to Enzo Fernadez's opener.

It was once again a red card that cost Chelsea the points; last week it was Robert Sanchez, and this time Trevoh Chalobah.

Chalobah was not entirely at fault, either, since it was Andrey Santos who lost the ball in a dangerous area that forced the centre-back to make a tackle that resulted in his dismissal.

IMAGO / Martin Dalton

Some would argue that Chelsea could have at least held on to a point there, but Maresca clearly tried to bolster the defensive line.

He used every defensive player he had on the bench: Josh Acheampong, Benoit Badiashile, Malo Gusto, and even defensive midfielder Romeo Lavia. It was just not enough.

Speaking after the game, Maresca revealed what he told the players in the dressing room.

"The message that we just said inside is clear: against any team in the Premier League, you cannot continue to give away presents," the Italian told reporters.

"These are big mistakes and the game completely changed."

IMAGO / Martin Dalton

Speaking about these mistakes, Maresca added: "For sure, we need to learn and we need to learn quickly.

"It can be a mix of experience or it can be a mix of a simple mistake."

Unfortunately for Chelsea, there is no time to dwell on these two red-card defeats.

They will have to swiftly shift their attention to Tuesday's Champions League match against Benfica, and soon after that, the home game against league leaders Liverpool.