Chelsea’s new manager Enzo Maresca was circumspect after he lost his first English Premier League game in charge of Chelsea 2-0 to Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.
There were plenty of positives to take from the young Chelsea sides’ display, but at the end of the day, defending Premier League champions City were simply too strong.
Goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic secured City the win, but Maresca said the result was no reason to get down. Speaking after the game to BBC Match of the Day he said: “The performance was good and we competed against the best team in the world.
“We played well and created chances. The biggest difference was inside the box and how they managed the ball at the end, they are a master. We don’t like to lose games but the performance was good.
“We can for sure improve many things, we’ve been together for just six weeks. At the same moment, we liked to analyse the game and we tried to play football and create chances. It’s not easy but we did well.
“You can see since day one that they continue in the same way. They are a master in everything and they’ll continue in this same way,” he said.
Asked about the size of his squad and the fact that several big name stars, including England striker Raheem Sterling were not selected to play he said: “It’s always tough because many of them deserve to play from the start. We have another game soon so they have chances to play for sure.”
Chelsea have spent approximately GBP185m on 11 new players since the end of last season, leaving Maresca with an enormous squad of more than 40 senior players.
Chelsea’s next Premier League game is next Sunday against Wolves. Before the Molineux game however they are in action in Europe with a Europa Conference League tie against Swiss outfit Servette FC on Thursday.
"The difference between us and them was inside the box" - Enzo Maresca
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) August 18, 2024
We wonder if there is a striker they could sign to fix that issue @Mikel_John_Obi?#beINPL #CFC pic.twitter.com/bLwLSwhhU6
