“Not so many…” – Enzo Maresca indirectly blames summer’s transfer strategy for Chelsea loss | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca is speaking to the media about Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Brighton at Stamford Bridge.

He was asked to explain the defeat, especially the red card, which was the Blues’ second in two games.

“No, for sure you cannot continue to make mistakes,” the coach said.

“They are big mistakes in terms of game changes: the red card at Manchester United and the red card today.”

Trevoh Chalobah brought down Diego Gomez just outside the box and was sent off – Chelsea tried to adjust by bringing on a central defender, but they surrendered control of the game, and ended up conceding 3 after that.

Maresca blames inexperienced defence for collapse

Enzo Maresca on the touchline at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

It was interesting to hear Maresca blame a lack of experience in his defence for how easily his team folded once the tables were turned following the red:

“After the red we tried to adjust a little bit with Josh Acheampong coming on, and he was ill over the last week. Josh, in that moment, our two central defenders were Josh and Jorrel [Hato], that both are for sure fantastic players, fantastic talents, but not so many games in the Premier League,” the coach said.

“When you are with 10 players it’s a moment that you have to manage the situation.”

Maresca avoids calling out transfer decisions

You can’t say this is him calling out the sporting directors really – it’s only because of a serious of injuries that he’s in this position with no senior central defenders available.

However, Maresca might point out that he did push to sign another defender in the summer, pretty openly in fact, and he wasn’t listened to. Next week’s games against Liverpool and Benfica are looking very scary now, as is the season as a whole.