Maresca admits Chelsea “need to analyse” major problem as team top bad stat for a second year running | OneFootball

After Nicolas Jackson’s red card on Sunday against Newcastle dealt a terrible blow to Chelsea’s chances of making it into the Champions League places, Enzo Maresca was audibly frustrated when speaking about the topic.

Maresca on Jackson “mistake”

The forearm smash which saw Nicolas Jackson sent off.

He kept a lid on it, but said his forward “has to learn” after a straight red for the Senegal star put Chelsea down to ten men in a game they were already losing. Of course it was a topic which was bound to come up up again in today’s pre-match presser as the Blues prepare to take on Man U.

At this point, Maresca has had a few days to calm down, but he was still pretty clear in this thoughts: “I think Nico is intelligent enough to recognise there has been a mistake,” the manager said.

Maresca on Chelsea discipline problem

Last season Chelsea picked up a rash of soft yellow and red cards, and the coach was asked as a follow up question whether his group has a problem with discipline in general:

“I think against Newcastle, it was our first red card of the season. We try to be intense and aggressive, I don’t know, to be honest. It’s a good question and one we need to analyse in the summer to see if we can do anything better.”

The issue is more over how soft the cards this group has picked up rather than how many. You’re always going to get a few yellows through the season – you’ve just got to make sure you’re getting them for the right reasons.

Cards for dissent and similar things (like Jackson’s totally unnecessary action on Sunday) are where the team really let themselves down. Last season we topped the yellow card table with 105, this season we’re top again, on 96 with 2 games to play.