Scoring goals does not win you titles, says Chelsea head coach Maresca

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

London, Dec 11 (IANS) Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has highlighted the importance of defending, after his side’s 4-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, and lauded his side for being balanced on both ends of the pitch. Though they eventually won the match, Chelsea conceded two early goals which put them on the back foot in the game.

“We conceded three goals against Tottenham the other day but there are still just two teams [Liverpool and Arsenal] that have conceded less than us [18 – in the Premier League]. We are attacking and defending well. You are not going to win games or titles by just scoring goals, you need to defend.

“As I said, even after conceding three goals against Spurs, there are just two clubs that have conceded less than us so that means also defensively we are doing quite well,” said Mareca in the pre-match press conference.

Chelsea are flying in Enzo Maresca’s first season as head coach with the Blues sitting in second place, four points behind league leaders Liverpool. So far, the team’s 35 goals are the most scored by a team in the English top-flight and their 18 goals conceded are the third lowest in the league.

Maresca faced the media before Chelsea’s UEFA Conference League game against Astana on Tuesday. The London-based side will be travelling to Astana, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, an eight-hour journey, and will be playing in adverse conditions with the temperature hovering around -17 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. The head coach went on to acknowledge the long journey that lies ahead of his side.

“Eight hours is not a normal time for a game. We have to go there. We have to play and we are going to try and do our best while also thinking about the next game. We have a session now and then we will fly there. We will have dinner and go to bed. Fortunately, they are five hours ahead of us so that means when we wake up tomorrow it is already midday here in England.

“We are going to be there less than 24 hours, but it’s more the flight and the temperature [-11C] for sure. On Friday morning we are going to land around 6 am in London and it is already Friday and we have a game Sunday, but we have to play,” he added.

–IANS

aaa/

Related Posts

Akash-Bumrah’s fightback can propel belief into India’s top order: Vettori

Brisbane, Dec 17 (IANS) In an unexpected turn of events, Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep put on an unbeaten 39-run partnership to foil Australia’s hopes of enforcing a follow-on on Day 4 of the Third Test at The Gabba.

With India’s top order once again failing to hit the mark, barring KL Rahul who continued his fine showing in Australian conditions with a valiant 84-run innings, Australia assistant coach Daniel Vettori believes the showing by Bumrah and Akash can propel belief back into India’s top order for the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

“I think we expect everything, I think we understand that any batter on any given day can step up and deliver, so I don’t think we assume that anyone’s going to live up to the average. I think you look at those averages and you think there’s not much there, but Bumrah has proven that. He’s been able to put on partnerships, he’s been proven that he can attack and he can defend, and I think Akash’s better than a number 11, so the team within themselves all understand that every wicket’s vitally important, so there was no reason to back off at all,” said Vettori at the post-day press conference.

Akash Deep, who is playing his first game in foreign conditions, walked into bat at 213/9 while the visitors needed 33 runs to save the side from getting a follow-on which could have potentially lost them the game.

Concerns arose for the hosts as Australia suffered a major injury blow with the experienced seamer Josh Hazlewood likely to be ruled out of the series against India after the scans confirmed he had strained his right calf. Hazlewood hurt his right calf during Australia’s warm-ups on Tuesday morning. He bowled one over in the first session before leaving the field with calf soreness in the first session on Day 4.

The 33-year old missed the second Test at Adelaide Oval due to a side strain. In Hazlewood’s likely absence, Scott Boland, who replaced Josh in the 2nd Test is likely to be called into the squad for the remaining two games as confirmed by Vettori.

“He’s (Josh) pretty despondent. Obviously, he felt it this morning in warm-ups and gave it a good crack, but yeah, it’s just unfortunate for him too. He made a come back and put so much effort in another injury with a side strain from the last test and then to pick up a calf injury here, particularly in these circumstances, was really tough on him.

“I think Boland speaks for himself. I mean, the way he bowled in Adelaide, the way he’s consistently been the back-up seamer, and every single time he’s been asked to step up, particularly in Australia, he’s been outstanding. So, I think that would be the logical thing to conclude,” concluded Vettori.

–IANS

aaa/

Shooting Nationals: Haryana teenager Suruchi stars with triple gold in women’s air pistol

New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) Haryana teenager Suruchi was the star of the day with a triple gold performance in the women’s air pistol competitions in the ongoing 67th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) 2024 at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in the national capital on Friday.

The daughter of an army veteran from Jhajjar, who began shooting sports five years ago in the same range as double Olympic bronze medallist Manu Bhaker, won her first-ever senior national title, with a score of 243.1 in the women’s 10m air pistol final, before going on to add the junior and youth crowns for a memorable nationals outing. In the process, she bettered the silver effort in women’s air pistol, achieved in the previous nationals.

Suruchi went into the eight-woman final as the in-form shooter, topping the qualifications with a solid 585. It was a field full of seasoned pros, among them Olympian Rhythm Sangwan, reigning Asian Games champion Palak, India international Divya T.S., and junior world champion Sainyam to name a few.

The Haryana girl, however, shot confidently throughout the 24-shot final staying in contention from shot one. She grew stronger as eliminations began after the 12th shot, firing just three mid to high 9s in the last 12 to leave state mate Rhythm a huge 5.7 behind in the second. Krushnali Rajput of Maharashtra was third.

Although Chandigarh’s Sainyam gave her a tougher fight in the junior final, she still left her 3.4 behind to clinch that with 245.1. Her most brutal win was in the youth final however, her score of 245.5, an enormous 6.3 ahead of silver winning Sanskriti Bana of Uttar Pradesh. Palak won bronze.

The star of the day said after her matches, “It is certainly a most memorable day. It was my first senior national title and to win three golds in a day is really special. Shooting, shooting, and only shooting is what is in my mind in the days to come.”

–IANS

bsk/