Maresca names "the most difficult thing" his team did against Manchester United

11/03/2024 05:30 PM

Enzo Maresca has just spoken to the Chelsea TV cameras following his team's draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

"We did the most difficult thing against this team in this stadium – that is, to go [a goal] down then come back," the coach said.

He also noted a flaw in his team's response, however:

"Probably after the goal the desire [we had to equalise] exposed us too much."

There were certainly plenty of chances for Manchester United to get back into the game after Chelsea scored, but that's only natural since his team knew that they had been the better team and were taking on a vulnerable team which they should really have beaten.

When he was asked about whether the game felt like two points dropped or a point gained, he replied:

"No, it's just I feel like we knew how difficult this game was, for many reasons. You know, they just changed the manager, the players, they want to prove themselves to the manager."

Well, it's not really an answer, but we know what he means. The context of the results made it a harder game than it seemed, so presumably it feels like a point gained given we were a goal down.

You can see the Maresca speaking in the clip embedded here:

Maresca offers his reaction following the conclusion of #MUNCHE. #CFCpic.twitter.com/Fo8OHklDvU

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) November 3, 2024

Maresca's positivity starts to wear thing after a slightly disappointing game

You can see why Maresca is being positive – this team are still ahead of where most people expected them to be at this stage. However games like this are where we decide whether we're going to be a top team or just one that's ahead of schedule.

We can afford to lose to Man City, or to Liverpool, or to draw with a collapsing Man United. But all three of them within the first third of the season doesn't do much for us.