Calum McFarlane, Chelsea U-21 manager and current first-team interim manager, has expressed satisfaction over the side’s draw with Manchester City.
Calum McFarlane, Chelsea U-21 manager and current first-team interim manager, has expressed satisfaction over the side’s draw with Manchester City.
McFarlane came in to handle the first team after the club parted ways with Enzo Maresca, just a few days before the City clash. McFarlane had only one major training session with the team but managed to lead them to a commanding performance against the title challengers.
City went ahead through a Tijjani Reijnders strike and could have had more but for the woodwork, suspect finishing, and great defending. Then, Enzo Fernández struck a few seconds before the end of the match to snatch a point from the jaws of defeat.
It was a great performance against a City side that had won eight straight Premier League home games before hosting the Blues. McFarlane explained during his post-match comments that the draw was due to a change in personnel in the second half.
“I’m really proud of the players and how they performed, especially in the second half,” said McFarlane. “Young players in those moments may crumble, but they had an exceptional second half. We deserved a point minimum. We could have won the game. We had some big chances and big moments in the second half.”
“We didn’t expect them to shape up the way they did in the first half, so they had a lot of control,” added McFarlane. “We were getting pinned back with Estevao and Pedro [Neto] having to defend in a back five at times, which meant they had so much control and rhythm. That’s not how we wanted the game to look.
“We made a change at halftime to go more man-for-man against the ball and to be able to get more pressure to disrupt their rhythm and hopefully force them to go a little bit longer.
“Andrey Santos was exceptional. He really controlled the middle of the pitch. In and out of the possession, the shape change and the sub really helped us. Liam [Delap] gave us a really good outlet to go more direct and occupy the centre-half.”
McFarlane continued: “We can talk about that, but the most impressive thing was the players. One-nil down at the Etihad, players falling ill on the day of the game, all the change—for them to regroup and take that information on and execute it speaks volumes about the characters we have at this club.”
