Maresca happy with every player in 2-0 win over Heidenheim
Today at 04:12 AM
Post-match thoughts from the boss
At the start of the night, there were six teams that were a perfect three-for-three in the UEFA Conference League's league phase. At the end, there were just two, Chelsea included. (Legia Warsaw the other.)
Four wins from four in Europe, and five unbeaten now in all competitions. We may not be cooking, but we're at least boiling water.
Our finishing could've been better. Much better. Our defending could've been tighter. The midfield more solid, our interplay more precise. There's always room for improvement. The two teams combined for nearly five (5) xG, and that's with our defensive line doing some stellar offside trapping all night. But it was a solid team performance dotted with a few outstanding individual turns (first and foremost by Filip Jörgensen in goal).
For Enzo Maresca, it was a praiseworthy effort from all.
"Very tough. This is exactly the way we expected the game [but] overall I think we did very well. We could have scored more goals but we also conceded some chances. Overall, I think we deserved to win the game and I'm very happy for the players."
"I think it is difficult to find players that tonight did not play well. All of them did very good. This is what we need. We need all of them taking the chances when they get them. We have 24 or 25 players, good players who all deserve to play and are working fantastic. We are going to share minutes in the next games because we have so many games so it is the normal thing to do."
-Enzo Maresca; source: Football.London
Our midweek-weekend rhythm and rotation will be tested greatly in the next week (a, with Wednesday's game against Southampton sandwiched between two massive clashes with top-four implications in Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur. We're going to need more than one or two players to step up and get it done in the Premier Legue as well.
