Enzo Maresca left Brentford happy with the effort his Chelsea team showed so soon after our victory against Tottenham, and explained the lack of time between the games determined his starting XI and strategy.
The Blues and the Bees played out a goalless draw at the Gtech Community Stadium. Most of the goalmouth action took place in the second period, after Maresca had brought on the likes of Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer.
Chelsea looked a greater threat as the contest wore on, and Maresca detailed why that was the plan as he made five changes to the team that beat Tottenham less than 72 hours earlier.
‘Overall we played a good game,’ assessed the head coach.
‘We prepared the game in the way it was, in terms of starting one way and finishing the other way.
‘We played Thursday night, a demanding game, 24 hours less than them. Tricky stadium, sunny day, the pitch was dry, they tried to kill the tempo of the game.
‘Overall we did enough to win the game. We shot more than 20 times. The only thing we missed was the goal, but overall I’m happy with the performance.
‘When you are not able to win, it’s important you don’t lose, you take the point and you move the table,’ added Maresca.
‘At this stage of the season, 24 hours can make the difference in terms of rest and energy, which is the reason why I’m happy with the performance. They gave everything.’
Maresca expanded on the reasoning behind his pre-match alterations, and why it paid off for us despite not finding the back of the net.
‘We played Thursday night. Not all of them [our players] were 100 per cent. The idea was to start in one way and finish in the other way. The plan nearly worked because in the last half-an-hour we created a little bit more.
‘It’s very clear how good Brentford are and what they try to do, not only in set-pieces but in transition, but apart from the last transition we conceded, we controlled them very well.
‘If we decided to start the first half the way we finished, probably after 45 minutes the team would not be physically good enough to finish the game. We tried to find a solution.
‘After 45 minutes, one hour, our team was getting better and better. We tried to keep the ball so they ran, and after one hour they could be tired. We expected to improve in the second half.’