Chelsea ended their pre-season tour of America with another defeat that left new head coach Enzo Maresca admitting he is struggling to get to grips with their defensive issues.
A high Chelsea line was once again exposed as they conceded twice inside 27 minutes in a 2-1 loss to Real Madrid, and their frailties at the back are a major concern ahead of the start of the season.
Defeat against Madrid in North Carolina means the Blues ended their US tour with 12 goals conceded in five games.
It is still early days for Maresca, and teething problems are understandable, given he is trying to implement a new style of play.
But the way Chelsea defend will have Manchester City licking their lips ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge for their Premier League opener a week on Sunday.
Defensive problems have been a feature of pre-season for Chelsea and their high defensive line was repeatedly exposed by Real in the opening half-hour. Maresca had plenty of pace in his backline, with Reece James, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill and Malo Gusto, but the Blues again looked vulnerable to balls in behind.
Chelsea allowed Real too much time on the ball and their opponents were able to pick passes for forward runners to stretch their defence.
The Blues were all over the place as Dani Ceballos opened the scoring, and Brahim then ran in behind to round new goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen and double the lead. Noni Madueke pulled one back before the break with a powerful header.
Maresca said afterwards that he wants his defensive line to drop deeper at the right moments, but admitted he is still trying to get players out of habits from last season under Mauricio Pochettino.
“One of my first meetings with the squad was about the number of goals we conceded last year with the defensive line being very high,” said Maresca. “It is something that we are trying to work on. It is a problem we are trying to solve from pre-season, since day one.
“It is a habit. We are not working on defensive lines so high. It is a habit from last year, or years ago, I don’t know. We are trying to drop the defensive line a little bit, usually about four or five metres, just to have some advantage. Hopefully, we can solve it very soon. Today, offensively, we are there, the patterns are there. We created chances. The problem is defensively; when I say defensively, I don’t just mean the defensive line, but in general, all the players.”
One positive for Chelsea was the performance of Romeo Lavia, who has been a big plus in pre-season after his injury nightmare last term.
Ben Chilwell was an unused substitute and there are now major doubts over his Chelsea future as it becomes clearer that Maresca does not feel he can play as an inverted left-back.
Chelsea finish pre-season against Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Maresca has said he does not know if Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella or Nicolas Jackson will feature in that game, but Chelsea expect them to be ready to for their opener against City.
