⁠Inside Chelsea’s half-time talk with Enzo Maresca to seal comeback draw vs Newcastle | OneFootball

Reece James shared what Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca demanded from his team at the break, which led to the team's second-half revival in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle United on Saturday.

St. James' Park has been a difficult ground to play for Chelsea in recent years, having tasted defeats in their last four visits to the stadium.

It certainly looked hopeless as the visitors could not have expected a worse start to the game on Saturday, being two goals down at the break.

It would not have been a surprise if Chelsea were to play passively and resort to damage control in the second half, but they clearly believed they could turn it around.

James suggested that the players knew exactly what to do after getting instructions from Maresca.

IMAGO / Every Second Media

"The messages (at half-time) were to (play similarly) but more demanding, more effort..." the Chelsea captain told TNT Sports when asked about Maresca's half-time talk.

"There were too many second balls they won in the first half that we needed to tighten up on.

"And we did that in the second half."

Maresca himself further explained it in his post-match press conference, claiming that his team did not get it completely wrong despite the poor first period.

IMAGO / Every Second Media

"The message at half-time, because even if we were 2-0 down in the first half and the performance was not good," the Italian admitted.

"But from the bench, I could see that the plan we prepared was the right one.

"So (after) the first half, the message was just continue to trust what we do.

"It is a matter of scoring the first one, and if we are able to do that, we have a chance to win the game.

"This was my message at half-time."

Maresca also made a couple of personnel changes in the second half, and the introduction of Enzo Fernandez, in particular, helped Chelsea gain more control in midfield.

Malo Gusto, who started at right-back, struggled in the first half before eventually making way for the midfielder, allowing James to return to his natural role.

Bear in mind that in addition to inspiring the team with his free-kick goal, James also made a few crucial defensive contributions late in the game.