Chelsea manager Maresca attended the post-match press conference following his side’s 1-3 heavy defeat to Brighton.
Reporter: Up until the 53rd minute, you must have felt like you had full control of the game. Could you explain what happened next and how the match turned?
Maresca: That’s right, as you said, this was a tough game because we did control it. We scored one goal, and we could have scored more—we didn’t concede anything early on. They just told me that statistically, we had a lot of shots in the first half, with possession as high as 70%—everything was going well.
Then suddenly, because of our mistakes and the red card, our plan completely fell apart again. So for me, we played two separate games: the first half, and then unfortunately, after the red card.
Reporter: Are you creating trouble for yourselves with these red cards? And is there any chance Axel Disasi will be back?
Maresca: No, we definitely can’t keep making these mistakes—because in terms of how the game shifts, these are huge errors, like the red card against Manchester United and the one today.
After that, we tried to make adjustments. We wanted to give Archibong some game time, but he’s been sick all last week. Then there were Josh and Jorrel [Hato]—they were our two center-backs. Undoubtedly, they’re very good players with great talent, but they don’t have much Premier League experience. So when you’re down to 10 men, you have to take control of the situation, and that’s a challenge.
As for your second question, it’s the same answer as yesterday: the club hasn’t told me anything, so there’s no update on Disasi.
Reporter: Did your team lose control? There was a confrontation between Benoît Badiashile and Lewis Dunk—what happened there?
Maresca: I didn’t see that moment you mentioned, so I don’t know if it was Benoît’s mistake or a Brighton player’s mistake. I think it might have been related to the momentum of the game at the time, but I don’t think that incident affected the goal, nor do I see it as the reason we conceded.
Maybe, though, it’s a sign that when things aren’t going your way, you shouldn’t let yourself get too tense. I think that’s a key message here.
Reporter: What message did you give the team internally after the game?
Maresca: The message we delivered internally was very clear: against any Premier League team, you can’t keep handing the opponent gifts like this. Because right now, that’s exactly what we’re doing—and it’s a massive mistake, because it completely changes the game.
Reporter: We saw Todd Boehly Eghbali and all the sporting directors go straight to the dressing room after the game. What did they say?
Maresca: They were in the dressing room as usual. We have an office inside the dressing room, and after every game, we sit there to discuss the match. Nothing was different this time.
Reporter: I want to ask—why did you make those substitutions after the red card? Because against Manchester United, you also seemed to substitute a winger directly.
Maresca: After the red card, we made the first substitution: we brought on Archibong for Santos.
Then Gusto came on because Mingte [likely a reference to Brighton’s player, e.g., Tariq Lamptey/Mitchell] was in a one-on-one battle with Reece James. So we wanted to give Reece some help. The last substitution was because Jorrel Hato had a cramp—he asked to be taken off.
Reporter: So why are your players, especially the young ones, making these mistakes?
Maresca: Of course, we need to learn—and we need to learn quickly. These can be lessons from experience, or they can be simple errors. If you look at our first half today, you wouldn’t have expected injuries or chaos, because we were in control and dominant. Unfortunately, in the last two games, two red cards have changed everything.
