Enzo Maresca says his young Chelsea side must “learn to play different games” after they were held to a frustrating goalless draw at Everton on Sunday.
The Blues missed out on the chance to at least briefly go top of the Premier League as they saw their eight-game winning run end on their final visit to Goodison Park.
Everton produced another excellent defensive display to claim their seventh clean sheet of the season, the joint-most of any side, and posed problems with their direct play in wild, windy conditions on Merseyside.
“I was quite worried about this game,” Maresca admitted afterwards. “It’s a tricky game, tricky stadium, tricky team. They are defensively top. You struggle to create chances against them.
“You have to deal with it and learn to play different games. Long balls, second balls, channels, set-pieces. Football is not only about how good we play on the ball. It’s also about how you defend and deal with that. I’m very proud today.
“Today’s game was a completely different game compared to the rest. You have to learn. It’s not easy but the way they showed togetherness has been brilliant today.”
The Blues were the better side in the first-half and twice went close to opening the scoring through Nicolas Jackson, who hit the post with a header and was denied from another opening by Jordan Pickford.
However, the visitors failed to trouble the England goalkeeper after the restart, with just one long-range shot on target in the final 45 minutes.
“In this kind of games, knowing you aren’t going to create many chances, you have to be clinical,” Maresca added. “In the first-half, we had the Nico one-vs-one with the ’keeper, the post from Nico, another two or three chances inside the box.
“If you are able to be clinical there and score the game probably becomes completely different but until then you’re going to struggle.”
