Chelsea recorded a resounding victory against Southampton on Wednesday night, but there were still things Enzo Maresca wasn’t happy with.
The Blues thrashed the Saints 5-1 at St Mary’s to make it four wins in a row in all competitions since the November international break.
Maresca’s men moved above Arsenal on goal difference and closed the gap on leaders Liverpool to seven points following their draw against Newcastle.
Maresca shares what he didn’t like about Southampton performance
Maresca made seven changes from the team that beat Aston Villa on Sunday, the first time this season he’s properly rotated the team in the league.
Filip Jorgensen was handed his first start, whilst he also changed both centre backs and the front three as Chelsea flexed their incredible squad depth.
There were five different scorers as Axel Disasi, Christopher Nkunku, Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer all scored, with Jadon Sancho scoring his first goal for the Blues.
Enzo Maresca shouts instructions on the touchline. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Maresca wasn’t impressed with some aspects of Chelsea’s win against Southampton. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
It now means Maresca’s free scoring Blues are the top scorers in the league with 31 goals from 14 games, and Nigel Reo-Coker has described their attacking power as scary.
It wasn’t all plain sailing as the Saints equalised shortly after Chelsea took the lead and despite a convincing win Maresca revealed there were things he wasn’t happy with.
“I’m very happy with the five we scored but I’m not happy about the first 10 or 15 minutes when we struggled,” he told his post match press conference.
“The reason why we struggled is because we prepared the game to press them man-to-man but in the first 15 or 20 minutes, we were not pressing them man-to-man. This is a team that if you don’t go man-to-man, then you struggle to recover the ball.
“Then after that, we adjusted that and the game was much better. But we could score more, but five goals is enough.”
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Noni Madueke celebrates a goal for Chelsea (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
A flag waves at Stamford Bridge by night.
It just goes to show how much of a perfectionist Maresca is that even after a 5-1 win he’s still talking about what could have been better and how the team can improve which is a great sign moving forward.
The Blues head to Tottenham on Sunday hoping to make it five wins in a row in all competitions and further consolidate their place in the top four.