What Reece James and Chelsea players need to realise about this season after drawing with “good” Brentford | OneFootball

Chelsea had a typically up and down game against Brentford on Saturday night in the Premier League.

The Blues were dire in the first half, then made numerous changes and turned the game around.

Just as they looked like they were about to nick 3 points, Brentford struck back from a long throw in injury time to make it 2-2.

James philosophical after painful draw

Chelsea celebrate a goal as a group. (Photo by Harry Murphy/Getty Images)

Speaking after the game, Enzo Maresca sounded pretty gutted. His captain Reece James, one the players brought on at half time to turn the game around, wasn’t much different:

“It’s disappointing not to win. We came here to win and we found ourselves a goal down, and we adapted the way we played and got ourselves back into the game. They are a strong team, and they punished us,” James said.

“We’re not happy with drawing, but we’ll keep fighting. We’ll have to accept the result and move forward. There are many factors as to why the first half wasn’t good enough. It’s a difficult place to come and we’re coming into games after an international break and that’s always tough. It’s no excuse – we have super high standards here.

“They caught us on the counter [in the first half], and we were prepared for that, but we didn’t deal with it. The second one is a set-piece where they are super strong and we didn’t deal with it today. We came to win, and we dropped points today. We are disappointed but the game is done now. It’s time to focus on the next game.”

Chelsea need to realise things only get harder

It’s all very valid and fair – but if you think Brentford is a tough place to go, wait until we go to about 13 of the other grounds in the league, which are harder. And if you think playing after an international break is hard, wait until next weekend where we’ll be playing at Old Trafford after going to the Allianz Arena in midweek.