“Not good enough” – Maresca picks out two players for “mistakes” which cost his team | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has just taken his post match press conference after Chelsea’s draw with Ipswich at home.

As you’d expect, there was a very negative vibe to the whole thing. What else can you expect? We dropped points last weekend against Brentford, and have really tough games to come. It was absolutely crucial to get a win today, but we fumbled it brutally.

Maresca was asked what went wrong for his team, who conceded two soft goals and looked so short of belief and motivation, especially in the first half:

“As I said at the beginning, it’s tough. Even in the first 20 minutes, at this stage of the season, against these kinds of teams, if you are able to score the first one, the game completely changes on your side,” the manager said.

“Unfortunately, we missed chances, and then we conceded. I think the team was not good enough in different things. This is where we need to take one step forward and react in the right way.

Maresca on the elements his team must improve

Enzo Maresca on the touchline. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Pressed for more detail on where his team had let themselves down, Maresca pointed to the defensive errors in the first half:

“I think we started quite well, creating chances. Then when they scored the first goal, the game completely changed. The dynamic of the game, I think for 20-25 minutes until the first half, we were not good enough, especially defensively, because the two goals we conceded were from our mistake.”

He even named Enzo Fernandez and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez as culprits:

“I think both goals we conceded, both we can defend better, but if you analyse both goals, the first goal is from Enzo, long ball, lose the ball, we concede. Second one is goal kick, long ball, we concede.”