Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has come under fire for his recent tactics following consecutive league defeats, and winger Pedro Neto seems to have taken a dig at his coach’s methods.
Maresca goes into Chelsea’s second Champions League encounter under pressure following an opening round defeat to Bayern Munich, followed by back-to-back defeats against Manchester United and Brighton in the Premier League.
What’s even more concerning from a Chelsea perspective is that they made life difficult for themselves in both those games by going down to ten men.
In the game against Man United, for instance, Maresca reacted by taking off both Neto and Estevao Willian after just a few minutes, leaving very little attacking help for Joao Pedro.
The moves significantly hampered Chelsea’s intent going forward and ultimately cost them their chance of getting anything from the game.
Now, ahead of the Champions League game against Benfica, Neto has hit out at his coach’s tactics and underlined the need for the team to be positive in their approach regardless of the situation.
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Pedro Neto hits out at Enzo Maresca’s recent tactics
Speaking ahead of the Champions League game against Benfica, Neto said that he believes the Blues should continue to want to attack, even if they are down to 10 men.
He said, “Even with 10 men, you want to attack and keep a positive mind. Newcastle scored against Liverpool with one man down. We conceded three goals with 10 men and we have to do much better as a team.”
Chelsea will hope that they can learn from their mistakes and keep all eleven players on the pitch when they take on their former manager, Jose Mourinho, and his Benfica team in the Champions League on Tuesday night at Stamford Bridge.
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