Gabriel Agbonlahor says whether Chelsea fans should be worried about Maresca after poor start to pre-season

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Chelsea’s pre-season has not got off to the start that Enzo Maresca would have been hoping for.

Chelsea were humiliated by Celtic in their second game, finding themselves 4-0 down at one point.

A Christopher Nkunku penalty made the final scoreline a little less embarrassing, but it certainly was not a good day for the Blues.

Maresca placed a bit of the blame on Chelsea’s defence, which conceded two goals against League One side Wrexham the game before.

Quite clearly, then, there is a lot of work for the Italian and Chelsea to do ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

• READ MORE: Andy Townsend predicts whether Chelsea will finish in the top four under Enzo Maresca

Gabriel Agbonlahor drops Chelsea pre-season verdict

While it is only pre-season, Maresca put strong teams out against Wrexham and Celtic.

The fact that Chelsea could not beat either side will concern some supporters. Former Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor, though, does not think they have anything to worry about and is actually tipping the Blues to have a good campaign.

Speaking about Maresca and Chelsea on talkSPORT, he said: “I wouldn’t look into it too much, and I am sure once the season starts, he will have his right team ready and he will have his right tactics ready. I think it’s an exciting season ahead for Chelsea.

“Maresca has got options there, and Chelsea fans would be like, ‘Yeah, but why would you lose to Celtic 4-1?’ But don’t worry about that. If you play Celtic three games into the season you wouldn’t lose 4-1, you will beat Celtic, you’ve got a better side than Celtic.

“So sometimes fans can panic but you’ve got to trust the process of pre-season. You know, it’s chopping and changing players, get them to fitness. Judge them on that last game before the season starts.”

Chelsea’s next pre-season game is against Club America. That could be another tough test for the Blues, with the Mexican side having already started their domestic campaign.

Chelsea’s defence worrying

There probably is not too much reason for Chelsea supporters to panic just yet. It is only pre-season and two bad games does not make the new Chelsea manager a terrible coach.

That being said, it would have been a concern for some fans seeing how one ball over the top was able to eliminate their entire defence in the loss to Celtic.

Chelsea have some very good options at the back, especially in the centre. New signing Tosin Adarabioyo, Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana are just three centre-halves who are currently available to Maresca.

As a unit, though, the Blues are going to have to do much better than they did against Celtic, otherwise it is going to be a disastrous season for the team and Maresca.