Chelsea coach, Enzo Maresca is delighted with the team’s performance in the 4-1 win over Panathinaikos in Greece.
The Italian manager made 11 changes to the team that suffered a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.
João Felix scored a brace, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Christopher Nkunku added the other goals to maintain Chelsea’s 100 per cent start to the Europa Conference League.
Marescca expressed delight after the team’s second team made a light work of the hosts, keeping the same identity despite the wholesale changes.
He said: “It was a very good performance. I think we struggled a little bit at the beginning of the game. And we adjusted; we struggled off the ball with our pressing, I think on the ball we were quite good – and then we made some adjustments and were much better.
“The most important thing, I always said, no matter how many players we change, you can see the identity of the team. We can do things better. The identity is quite clear, the way we play on the ball and the way we play off the ball.”
Maressa was also full of praise for Mykhailo Mudryk, who scored his first goal of the season and recorded two assists in the encounter.
He said, “Very happy, not for me but for him. We spend a long time to help the players; not only Misha but the whole squad. Since we started, we are working with Misha and all the wingers to arrive in the box, into the position where Misha scored.
“He struggled to arrive there and now he is starting to arrive there. That is where we are going to score goals. It’s for him, it’s for Jadon [Sancho], it’s for Noni [Madueke], it’s for Pedro [Neto] – all of the wingers. They need to be in position because the ball is going to arrive in that position.
“We want the best for Misha. Since day one, we are trying to help Misha. Probably for him, he is one of the guys that the learning process is more slow compared to the rest but he is improving. I’m sure that slowly, slowly we will have Misha scoring more goals and being important for us.”
Enzo Maresca has enjoyed an impressive start to life at Stamford Bridge with a clear style of play, coupled with convincing wins.
The Blues have won their first two matches in the Europa Conference League against Gent, and Panathinaikos, scoring eight goals and conceding three.
Chelsea will be back in Premier League action against Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge.
The Identity Is Clear- Maresca Hails Chelsea’s Second Team Performance is first published on The Whistler Newspaper