It would be fair to say that Enzo Maresca was not happy with Chelsea’s first-half performance against Fulham on Saturday.
While Chelsea were able to go into the break with a 1-0 lead thanks to Joao Pedro, they struggled in the first 45 minutes of their west London derby.
Joe Cole thought Pedro picked up as the game went on after a difficult start to the match, and the same can also be said about the rest of Maresca‘s team in the second half.
They were much better, with Maresca having some words during the half-time break.
Enzo Maresca wanted to prepare tactical board after Chelsea’s disappointing first half
Maresca actually headed straight to the dressing room after Pedro’s opener, which came just before the half-time whistle, and the Chelsea manager has since explained why.
After a very underwhelming 45 minutes, Maresca wanted to quickly set up the tactical board in Chelsea’s changing room.
Speaking to football.london and the rest of the English media after the Blues’ 2-0 win against Fulham, the 45-year-old said: “If you see when we scored with Joao, I immediately left the bench because I was more worried to improve in the second half. So I came back in the changing room to prepare the tactical board and everything.”
Whatever he said to his players worked, as Chelsea’s performance in the second half improved as they went on to grab a second goal.
The Club World Cup winners’ victory over their west London rivals was a very controversial one.
Fulham had a goal in the first half ruled out following a VAR review, which saw Maresca give a cheeky wink to his bench. There was also controversy surrounding the penalty that they awarded, with some feeling that Pedro handled the ball in the build-up to the spot-kick being given.
Enzo Maresca happy with second-half improvement
While Maresca was far from satisfied with what he saw from his Chelsea team in the first half of their London derby at Stamford Bridge, the Italian was pleased with their display in the second half.
“Today I was not happy after the first half,” Maresca said in his post-match press conference. “The reason why is because we didn’t play on the ball in the way we prepared the game. And we were not good enough in the second ball and duels.
“In the second half I think we were very good on the ball and we were very, very good in the second ball and duels.”
That win took Chelsea to first in the Premier League table, and they could stay there if results go their way on Sunday.
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