Reece James laments poor showing against Warsaw as they make the Conference League final 4 despite a 2-1 loss.
Reece James laments his side’s poor showing against Legia Warsaw in the Conference League.
Chelsea, who were determined to give the fifth-best team in Poland a chance to make a memorable comeback at a seething Stamford Bridge, were incoherent and could have easily lost.
It makes sense that Maresca isn’t experiencing the crowd’s affection. No one rejoiced when Chelsea defeated Djurgården 4-2 on aggregate to advance to the Conference League semi-final. Both the assault and the defence were dreadful. Robert Sánchez’s replacement, Filip Jörgensen, seemed uneasy in goal, and concerns about Cole Palmer’s poor play are not going away.
Palmer, who has failed to score in 15 games, looked unhappy once more. But he was not alone. No one had arrived anticipating that they would be about to see a Polish remontada effort. When Chelsea lead 3-0 after the first leg, there was initially curiosity about Maresca selecting such a formidable team. Marc Cucurella, at left-back, had no time to relax, although Palmer and Nicolas Jackson’s starts could be seen as a chance to get back to their best.
Palmer came charging through in the second minute, but his shot went wide, suggesting that was a good theory. Will he ever get over his goal drought? Palmer worked. Moments later, he missed another opportunity, failing to convert a rebound after Vladan Kovacevic had saved Jackson’s effort. In the 20th minute, Chelsea’s key creator was hobbling due to a brutal challenge by Tomas Pekhart, making Maresca’s risk appear utterly dumb.
By then, Chelsea was far from safe, trailing by a goal from Pekhart, who had squeaked a penalty past Jörgensen after the custodian had fouled him. When Ryoya Morishita ran past Cucurella and missed the shot, it was the first indication of dissatisfaction from the home crowd
“It was a poor performance,” Reece James, Chelsea’s captain, said. “We had a 3-0 lead – maybe that played a part in taking our foot off the gas. Maybe we disrespected the competition today. If you don’t prepare right, you will pay. It’s going to affect the mindset. It’s going to be in the back of people’s heads. I understand the frustration. Fans come to see excitement. We were frustrating to watch.”