Chelsea lost 1-4 to Scottish side Celtic in a friendly match on July 28. After the game, Blues boss Maresca told the media that the players’ physical condition was one of the main reasons for the defeat.
Evaluation of the game
“The result is always important, but certainly, at this moment, we need to analyze the game in a global way. In terms of possession, we were ten times better than against Wrexham, because we can see the number of chances we had in both the first half and the second half.”
On the team’s tactics
“In terms of playing without the ball, we certainly need to improve. You can see that sometimes we are not clear on when to play short and when to play long, but it’s part of the process.”
“For me, the important thing is to recognize the difference we have with them in terms of physicality. You can see they have played four games in pre-season, they are about to start their official season. And for us, we are struggling a little bit physically.”
On the reasons for the defeat
“The biggest difference between us and them is in terms of physicality, it’s obvious that they are ready to start the season and we have just played our second pre-season game, some of our players played only 45 minutes, so it’s a big difference.”
“Of course it’s not only physical, we need to improve a lot in terms of playing without the ball. One of the things we didn’t do well today was when the ball was not under pressure, we stayed high, but when the ball is not under pressure, you need to drop back.”
This article is from a user submission and does not represent the views of Soccer News Pick. If you repost it, please indicate the source: https://www.soccernewspick.com/premier-league/12257.html
