Enzo Maresca explains new-look Chelsea team in Man City defeat

Enzo Maresca is changing things up at Chelsea (Picture: Getty Images)

Enzo Maresca says he ‘tried something different’ with his Chelsea team as they were beaten 4-2 by Manchester City in a pre-season friendly on Saturday in Ohio.

An Erling Haaland hat-trick and a goal from Oscar Bobb put the Premier League champions 4-0 ahead, before second-half consolations from Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke for the Blues.

Maresca fielded Malo Gusto at left-back and summer signing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall ahead of him on the left flank.

The full-back pushed forward, though, with Dewsbury-Hall asked to come inside and spend much of his time more centrally.

It was a new look from Maresca and he said it was all part of preparations for the upcoming season, which starts against Manchester City on 18 August.

‘Today we tried something different, instead of having the full-back inside, we maintained more or less the same structure with Malo playing higher and Kiernan going inside,’ he said.

‘For sure, we don’t like to lose games but in this moment, the main focus for me is to see different things and to try to be ready for the official games at the beginning of the season.’

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is finding his feet at Chelsea (Picture: Getty Images)

City’s goals came in short bursts, with Haaland scoring on four and five minutes, then Bobb netting on 55 and Haaland completing his hat-trick a minute later.

Maresca felt this was a weakness from his side but, like adjusting to the new tactics, is normal for pre-season preparations.

‘In this moment, we have to learn things,’ he said. ‘More than the goals we conceded, we need to learn when you concede one, you cannot then concede a goal two minutes later. And in the second half, we conceded and then a few minutes we conceded another one.

‘This is something that I just said to the players that we need to learn. When you concede one, it is the moment that you need to become stronger and not concede another one.

‘In this moment, sometimes you need to understand a bit better when we play back, when we play inside and when to play outside.

‘After two or three weeks, this is completely normal. Less the first five minutes, the game for me was good.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.