Maresca admits his senior players “panicked” in worrying second half at Wolves | OneFootball

Chelsea were 3-0 up and cruising in tonight’s EFL Cup match against Wolves, but a truly dreadful second half showing almost cost them.

Maresca continues to make excuses for poor performances

Liam Delap laments his red card. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Having been 3 up, the Blues conceded two, then got a red, then scored one, then conceded in another in a crazy 45 minutes.

What was puzzling – and worrying – was that the manager Enzo Maresca had brought on numerous first team player – like Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella – to shore things up. Instead, they joined in the general collapse. Speaking post game, the manager was asked why he thought the changes hadn’t worked in bringing stability:

“We lost the balance of the game before the change. So it’s complicated for the ones that came on, it’s too hard to adjust that.

“But in the first-half, 0-3, again the game was completely under control. Then we conceded the first goal and then we panicked a little bit. But it’s part of the journey of this team, this squad, that needs to grow, to make experience to get better and better.”

They certainly do. There were multiple players with more than 100 Premier League games under their belt on the pitch in that second half today, not just teenagers. They need to be held to higher standards, not given excuses.

In other news…

Maresca also used the press conference to unload his frustration on the players, in particular with Liam Delap, who celebrated his return to the team after months out with two yellow cards in 7 minutes to pick up his team’s latest red.

The pick of Chelsea’s goals was Jamie Gittens’ rocket strike of a bouncing volley to finish the game at the end. Two goals in quick succession in the first half looked to have sealed the game early – you can see Tyrique George and Estevao’s efforts in the clips embedded here.