Maresca described the game at Ohio Stadium as ‘strange’ after his team dominated large spells and created several dangerous opportunities against the Premier League champions but ultimately lost because of two spells of sloppy play early in either half.
The Blues got off to the worst possible start as they conceded an early penalty after giving away possession and it was 2-0 moments later when another poor pass led to Erling Haaland’s second goal.
It was a similar story in the second half when another two wayward passes in quick succession resulted in City going 4-0 up.
Chelsea enjoyed 56 per cent of possession across the 90 minutes and had the same number of shots on goal as City but could only manage the two goals from Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke.
Maresca said: ‘I have no doubts about the progress this team is making in this moment. Mistakes are part of the process.
‘I have known City for many years and even in friendly games, they don’t concede possession to the opposition, don’t concede many chances and they have long [spells of] possession. Thinking about the first half, I don’t remember them making six or seven passes in a row, so that was good from us off the ball.
‘On the ball, we had many long [spells of] possession, some good chances and – I don’t know but I think – we had about 60 per cent possession in the first half.
‘It doesn’t matter that it was a friendly game and they didn’t have six or seven of their starting players missing, this is the analysis of this moment.
‘In any game, if you concede two goals [early on], it is not good.’
He continued: ‘It was a very strange game to be honest. I planned the game and I think the plan was good in terms of the way we wanted to attack and the way we wanted to defend.
‘First half, less the first five minutes when we conceded two goals, the team was good but it was a very strange game because you plan the game in one way and then you concede two goals which completely changes the dynamic of the game.
‘What can I say about the first half? The team on the ball was good, creating some chances, finding the right players and the right spaces.
‘I think we lacked some quality in the last third, especially in the one-v-ones on both sides.’
Maresca changed his team’s shape against City, with left-back Malo Gusto asked to play higher and stay wide, rather than being inverted like he was against Club America.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was then asked to play inside off the left wing, giving the Blues an extra player in the central area of the pitch, with Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia playing deeper, and Enzo Fernandez and the former Leicester City man more advanced, with Christopher Nkunku leading the line and Mykhailo Mudryk on the right flank.
Maresca said: ‘Today we tried something different, instead of having the full-back inside, we maintained more or less the same structure with Malo playing higher and Kiernan going inside.
‘For sure, we don’t like to lose games but in this moment, the main focus for me is to see different things and to try to be ready for the official games at the beginning of the season.’
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola hired Enzo Maresca as his assistant coach and the pair won the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup together during the 2022/23 season.
Guardiola was asked about the errors made by Chelsea while trying to play out from the back and the City boss stated he thought the surface at Ohio Stadium was the cause, stating the goals would not have occurred at Stamford Bridge.
When Maresca was asked about Guardiola’s comments, he replied: ‘Sometimes when we say something, it can sound like an excuse so I don’t want to say this but for sure, the pitch doesn’t help in the way we want to play because the ball has to be quick. This kind of pitch slows down the ball.
‘In this moment, we have to learn things. More than the goals we conceded, we need to learn when you concede one, you cannot then concede a goal two minutes later. And in the second half, we conceded and then a few minutes we conceded another one.
‘This is something that I just said to the players that we need to learn. When you concede one, it is the moment that you need to become stronger and not concede another one.’
He continued: ‘In this moment, sometimes you need to understand a bit better when we play back, when we play inside and when to play outside.
‘After two or three weeks, this is completely normal. Less the first five minutes, the game for me was good.’
