Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has announced that he has called an emergency team meeting just before the game against Sunderland. The manager has closely analyzed the Black Cats in the lead-up to the Stamford Bridge showdown, scrutinizing each of their nine league and cup games.
However, his plans were thrown into disarray when Regis Le Bris turned in his team sheet. Despite having consistently used a back four in previous games, Sunderland adopted a more defensive stance against Chelsea, fielding five defenders to protect Robin Roofs’ goal.
After receiving the team news at 1:45 p.m., Maresca, who was in the coach’s room, which doubles as a debriefing room with Chelsea executives after home games, immediately called a team meeting. Here he outlined a revised strategy and issued new instructions.
They have spent the past week preparing for the game with two full-backs and two centre-halves. However, it ultimately proved to be futile.
Chelsea took an early lead through Alejandro Garnacho’s goal just four minutes into the game. However, Wilson Isidore scored an equalizer before half-time, making them unassailable as Sunderland adopted a ‘park the bus’ strategy.
Just when it looked like the game would end in a draw, Kemsdane Talbi scored a surprise winning goal for the visitors in the third minute of stoppage time and Sunderland returned to Wearside with all three points.
Maresca expressed dissatisfaction with the team’s game plan, saying, “What we have to improve, what we need to learn, and that’s what I tell the players every day, is that the team against us has changed, probably because of what we accomplished last season.”
“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 Daily Mail claims Maresca gave the analyst a new assignment after the game. It was about Chelsea looking back at last season’s defeats against teams that adopted a similar strategy in order to find ways to dismantle teams more effectively in future matches.
Maresca also revealed how Ange Postecoglou introduced a similar system against Chelsea when Nottingham Forest welcomed the Blues to the City Ground earlier in the campaign.
He continued: “Four weeks ago I was in London for the LMA Awards.
“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.”
