Revealed: Chelsea players were told by manager Enzo Maresca at a last-minute emergency team meeting to ignore everything said in the build-up to the match against Sunderland
Manager Enzo Maresca has revealed that Chelsea held an emergency team meeting minutes before playing against Sunderland. The manager watched nine of the Black Cats’ league and cup games and studied them thoroughly ahead of the match at Stamford Bridge.
However, his preparations were ruined when Regis Le Bris turned in his team sheet. Sunderland had started each game with a back four, but against Chelsea they stepped up their defense, deploying five defenders to protect Robin Roofs’ goal.
When the team news was announced at 1:45 p.m., Maresca, who was in the coaches’ room (which doubles as a debriefing bunker with Chelsea executives after home games), learned of it and called a team meeting where he laid out his game plan and issued new instructions. They spent a week preparing for the game with two full-backs and two centre-halves. However, that ultimately proved fruitless.
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Alejandro Garnacho’s goal put the home side ahead four minutes into the match, but Wilson Isidore equalized before half-time as Sunderland parked their bus and were unplayable. It looked like the game would end in a draw, but Kemsudine Talbi scored a shocking winning goal three minutes into stoppage time, sending Wearside back to Wearside with all three points.
Dissatisfied with the Black Cats’ game plan, Maresca told Football.London shortly before the match that his team’s preparations had been deemed excessive for the requirements. “What we have to improve on, what we have to learn, and that’s what I tell the players every day, is that teams have changed against us probably because of what we accomplished last season,” he said.
“Sunderland, nine games in the Premier League, they never played with a back five to start with. Never. They played nine games. I watched all nine of Sunderland’s games before the game.”
“It never happened. They finished with the back five and were winning 1-0 so we took the back five to defend the last 10 minutes. But from the start, it was never like that.
“So we prepared for the Sunderland game with a back four and we thought they were probably going to be a back five. So before the game, in the changing room, before the players go out to warm up, we have to say to the players: “Guys, Sunderland Prep, do this, tak tak tak tak, and throw away the rubbish.”
“That’s why it’s so difficult. This is our plan for today. We have to change our plan within 10 minutes. So it’s different when you know the team is a back five. And we prepare with a back five.”
The newspaper reported that after the match, Maresca set his analysts a new task – asking them to look back at last season’s defeat to a team that had played in a similar fashion for hints on how Chelsea could overcome them in the future.
Maresca also explained how Ange Postecoglou used a similar formation against Chelsea when Nottingham Forest hosted the club at the City Ground earlier in the season. He added: “Four weeks ago I was in London for the LMA Awards ceremony.
“I was with Ange[Postecoglou]before he took the Forest manager job. We were talking and I said, ‘Ange, apart from the last 10 minutes of the Europa League final against United, I’ve never seen your team play with a back five.’
“He started laughing. ‘I hate playing in the back five, but there were 10 minutes left and we need to win the title, so I said, ‘Okay, I don’t care, I’ll play in the back five.’ We played against Forest and it was a back five.”
“And I prepared for the game with a back four. So before the warm-up, before the play-out, guys, the plan is all crap, it’s the back five. That’s difficult for the players, not when you know the team you’re playing against is always going to play with the back five.
“OK, we’ve been preparing all week, maybe two or three days, to see how we can win the game. And we know how to win the game. The problem is when you play against a team, they arrive here with a back four, and with a back five, they sit still. The situation is more complicated. That’s the only difference.”
Chelsea’s game against Forest ended in contrast to their match against Sunderland, as they ran out 3-0 winners away, but Postecoglou was sacked after the game. Thanks to the weekend’s victory, Sunderland have won five, drawn two and lost two from their opening nine games, temporarily moving them into second place in the Premier League table.
However, after Sunday’s game, Bournemouth and Tottenham have dropped to fourth after wins against Forest and Everton respectively. The Black Cats turn their attention to Everton at the Stadium of Light on Monday while Chelsea travel to Tottenham.
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