Chelsea boss pleased at his side’s adaptability in victory over Leicester City
edmund@slpmedia.co.uk
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was pleased his side adapted to Leicester City’s change in formation as they moved back into the Premier League top four after a 1-0 win on Sunday.
Marc Cucurella’s second-half strike was enough for the Blues to leapfrog Manchester City, who suffered a 1-0 defeat at fellow Champions League contenders Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Ruud van Nistelrooy changed his Foxes side to line up in a back five at Stamford Bridge, with Maresca admitting they had prepared for facing a back four in all of their training sessions.
“I’m very happy,” said Maresca, who managed Leicester when they won promotion back to the top flight at the end of last season.
“When we prepared the game, we watched as many Leicester games as possible. We watched almost every game under Ruud since he arrived.
“They always play in a line of four and they arrived here today with a line of five – it changed the plan completely.
“You can imagine that all the training sessions and preparations are now rubbish. We needed a new plan before the warm-up.
“The way the players adapt was top and fantastic. You have to change completely the way you want to attack and defend.
“The other teams are starting to respect us. The players have been so good and the reason why I’m so happy is because of this.
“They came here thinking they could surprise us.”
Cole Palmer’s goalless run stretched to nine matches after he had a penalty saved by Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen midway through the first half, extending his goal drought in the Premier League to seven games and 683 minutes.
The England international was taken off with 17 minutes of normal time remaining.
“Cole didn’t train yesterday and didn’t feel well overnight,” said the Blues head coach.
“This morning he woke up and said: ‘I want to be on this pitch because I want to help this team and club to play in the Champions League’.
“He was completely out for the last two days with a fever. He was very bad. This shows that these players want to bring this club to where it belongs.”
Cucurella has six goal contributions in 26 Premier League outings this season.
The Spanish defender told Sky Sports: “We know that we need to defend with everything and today the team showed a lot of passion.
“We got the three points and we want to fight for the objectives.
“I’m really happy. It’s a long process, I needed to work really hard in my bad moments. Maybe something I need to improve is being more clinical in the final third.
“In the last minute we showed energy and the fans helped us in our tough moments when we’re a bit tired.
“We defend the same club and we need to stay together. The support is very important when things go not well.”
PICTURES: ALAMY