Enzo Maresca sheds light on Chelsea's efforts to address issues from Mauricio Pochettino era

Enzo Maresca has acknowledged that Chelsea identified an issue with their high defensive line during pre-season and have been working diligently to address it. This adjustment comes after a loss to Real Madrid served as a wake-up call for the team.

Chelsea ended their pre-season tour of the United States on Tuesday evening as they were beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Lucas Vazquez and Brahim Diaz struck to put Madrid in front before Noni Madueke found the net in the 39th minute.

Chelsea play Inter in their final pre-season friendly at Stamford Bridge this Sunday before their Premier League opener at home to champions Manchester City on August 18.

And while Maresca says he is happy with his side’s attacking output, the Italian concedes his players still have defensive issues to fix, including their high line.

‘It’s a problem we are trying to solve from pre-season, since day one,’ Maresca said.

‘One of my first meetings with the squad was about the amount of goals we conceded last year with the defensive line very high.

‘It’s something we are trying to work on. Today, offensively, we are there, the patterns are there. We created chances. The problem is defensively, when I say defensively I don’t just mean the defensive line, but in general, all the players.

‘Overall now it’s finished. We head back to London. We have Inter and then an official game.’

Asked if he had an explanation for Chelsea’s high line, Maresca replied: ‘It’s a habit.

‘We are not working on defensive lines so high. It’s a habit from last year, or years ago, I don’t know.

‘We are trying to drop the defensive line a little bit, usually about four or five metres, just to have some advantage.

‘Last year, we already conceded many goals with this problem. Hopefully we can solve it very soon.’

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