'Not good enough’ - Maresca sends Chelsea attackers clear message after Sunderland defeat | OneFootball

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has pointed his finger at his attackers for the dull performance in Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Sunderland.

The Blues dominated the possession as expected and even forced Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs to make more saves (six) than Robert Sanchez (2).

Still, both teams only created two big chances each in the game, and it was Sunderland that came out with the three points.

Maresca was clearly not happy with his team's attacking display.

"We were not good enough," the Chelsea head coach said in his post-match press conference.

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"Lack of creativity. We didn't create a lot, apart from the goal, probably.

"And we struggled. Also, I think, you know, we need to perform. We need our players to perform 100 per cent.

"Even at 1-0, we lost some duels, we lost some second balls. And against this team, you need to win that.

"We need our players to perform 100 per cent. Even at 1-0, we lost some second balls, and against this team, we need to win them."

Maresca used four of his available substitutions on attacking players, and it clearly shows his frustration too.

Jamie Gittens, Estevao, Andrey Santos, and Tyrique George all came on in the second half, but instead of retaking the lead, the hosts conceded a stoppage-time goal.

Chelsea launched a lot of crosses in this game, partly because of Sunderland's tight defence through the middle.

Unfortunately, only 14 percent (four) of these crosses found another Chelsea player, and none led to a goal.

Maresca, however, defended this seemingly desperate approach to score.

"No, when we arrived in a certain area of the pitch, we crossed because we expected to have four or five players inside the box," he explained.

"Today, when we crossed, we had players inside the box, but probably the quality of the cross was not the best."