Chelsea comfortably beat America 3-0 in this morning's friendly, and after the match manager Maresca spoke to the media to give a full review of the match and reveal a number of important information about his team.
Maresca began by expressing his satisfaction with the result of the match, but he emphasized his concerns about the team's performance. He pointed out that Chelsea have been improving from the games against Wrexham and Celtic to today's Amerika, and that this positive attitude and continuous improvement is the key to the team's future success.
Speaking on the progress the team has made compared to the previous game, Maresca was outspoken in his criticism of the defensive issues against Celtic. He believes that it is extremely dangerous for the team to press the defense too high without pressing, and that this suicidal defensive strategy must be corrected. From this point of view, Chelsea in the defensive end has a clear sense of improvement.
Regarding Gallagher's future, Maresca stated that he is unaware of it. He revealed that he was aware of other teams' interest in Gallagher when he first arrived, but currently knows nothing about Gallagher's exact destination or transfer.
In terms of team injuries, Maresca gave detailed information. He pointed out that Gusto, Bardiacil and Nkunku only suffered from cramps during the game and the problem is not serious. Jakson and Kessedo, on the other hand, are actively recovering their health, they are very close to making a comeback and hope to start training with the team as soon as possible.
Maresca spoke highly of new signing Nkunku's performance. He said he knew Nkunku before joining Chelsea and admired him a lot. Nkunku's versatile attributes make him a perfect fit for Chelsea's tactical system, whether it's in the midfield, number nine position or on the wing, he can play well.
In addition, Maresca spoke about the performance of young player Dewsbury Hall. He laughed and said that he doesn't know if the players joke that Dewsbury-Hall is his "favorite", but for sure, Dewsbury-Hall is building a rapport with his teammates and knows what to do with and without the ball, thanks to their previous year's experience together. Maresca asked Dewsbury-Hall to communicate more with his teammates to help improve the team's overall performance.
Finally, Maresca also revealed the arrangement of penalty takers for next season. He made it clear that he will decide who will take the penalties and has already communicated his instructions to Ada Rabiu and Madueke. Nkunku will be the preferred penalty taker but Maduekai also expressed a strong desire and managed to take the second penalty. Maresca, however, emphasized that he will be one of the team's penalty takers when Palmer returns.
