Chelsea avoided an embarrassing exit from the League Cup last night with a two-minute flurry of quality football amid a sea of uninspiring-ness, as we advanced past third division Lincoln City to book our place in the fourth round of the competition.
As we had done in every game so far this season, we conceded first, and that goal just before the half was nothing short of what the home side had deserved. We had been slow, ponderous, predictable. They had been fast, direct — and also predictable. But
they were executing properly whereas we weren’t.
That all changed after the break, during which Enzo Maresca made a slight tactical tweak, and then turned the hairdryer to high and let them have it.
“We were aware, the game that we expect in terms of long balls, duels, throw-in, free kick, every time inside the box. […] Against League One team […] it’s not the same game. Because the desire, it’s double from them — from duels, these kinds of things. And we struggle a little bit, first half. I think second half, we were much better, and yeah — we won the game.
“[At] half time — we change something tactically, that I think has been important. Jorrel [Hato] was playing in different position compared to the first half. I think we were also lucky that we scored immediately after the second half. But the structure, the shape of the team, between first half and second half was completely different, and that probably help a little bit.
“Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely [there were angry words, too]. We prepare the game thinking exactly in the way was the first half. [But] sometimes it’s about desire, it’s about second ball — but it’s also about experience. These kind of games you have to play in different way. It’s more about desire […] and we struggle, first half.“
Survive and advance, that’s the name of the game.
