“Maresca did not” – Tactical failures pointed out as Blue coach lets game slip away | OneFootball

Tom Collomosse’s article for the Daily Mail today looks back at Chelsea’s defeat yesterday and has some tough words for Enzo Maresca.

The Blues went 1-0 up, but as we’ve seen countless times this season then lost their nerve and allowed the opposition back into it. Part of the blame for that has to be on the manager, who let his opposite number get the better of him tactically.

Collomosse points to the Italian coach’s inexperience as a major problem:

“Then there is his [lack of] ability to read a game and react. Maresca got his initial team selection spot on and won the early tactical battle with Emery. When Emery changed the balance of his side at half-time, however, sending on Marcus Rashford to run at Malo Gusto and allowing Morgan Rogers to drift inside, Maresca did not respond,” the piece explains.

“He might have switched Reece James from midfield to right-back to counter Rashford’s threat or put Jadon Sancho on the right to run at the vulnerable Ian Maatsen. Maresca did neither, moving only to introduce Sancho for Christopher Nkunku on the left late in the game – a like for like switch.”

Maresca must do more to change games slipping away

Enzo Maresca on the touchline. (Photo by: Catherine Ivill – AMA)

Of course it’s easy to put all the blame at the feet of the manager and his tactics. It wasn’t Maresca who fumbled a shot over the line, that was Filip Jorgensen. And it wasn’t Maresca who missed the chance to make it 2-1, that was Cole Palmer.

But there is no doubt that in this aspect of the game Maresca has a lot to learn. The reason we keep letting these leads slip (it’s not 13 points in two months) is at least in part down to his poor game management.

In terms of subs, he may not have trusted, experienced senior players on the bench, but he does have energetic talented youth. They could have offered more than an ineffective Jadon Sancho replacing an ineffective Christopher Nkunku, which changed nothing.