Calum McFarlane made his managerial debut as Chelsea’s interim boss on Sunday and it was his halftime adjustments that saw the Blues fight back from a goal down to draw Manchester City 1-1.
MAN CITY 1-1 CHELSEA — Video highlights & recap
It was a tumultuous week for the club as a while with Enzo Maresca leaving unexpectedly, thrusting McFarlane into the limelight just two days later. Liam Rosenior is the widely reported favorite to replace Maresca, with various reports over the last 24 hours indicating that the sides are working toward finalizing an agreement. Rosenior currently manages fellow BlueCo club Strasbourg, in Ligue 1.
Below is the latest Calum McFarlane reaction, speaking after making his managerial debut against Pep Guardiola.
Calum McFarlane reaction — What did interim Chelsea boss say after managerial debut?
How proud are you to get the performance that you did from those players? “Massively proud. I thought the first half was tough — we got a few things wrong — but I thought the second half was exceptional in every facet of the game. I though we thoroughly deserved a point from the game. I’m incredibly proud for the players.”
On the game plan and halftime changes: “They shaped up slightly differently than what we expected. When they put six players on the back line, it really stretched our back-four so we had to change the press. We changed it the second half to allow us to go a little bit more man-to-man, a little more aggressive and disrupt their rhythm. They had too much control in the first half, and I thought [Chelsea’s] shape change allowed us to get control of the game and have more passages of play. Andrey Santos coming in in midfield allowed us to get a foothold in the game. Changing the press at halftime, and the lads taking that information on with very little time or very little work, is exceptional.”
On his time as interim Chelsea manager: “The two or three days we’ve worked with [the players], they’re open, they’re hardworking, they’re honest, they want to do the right things. So I can’t speak about my changes more than them buying into it and applying what we wanted them to do. I thought they did that exceptionally in the second half.” … “The group has been exceptional. As an under-21s staff coming in, we couldn’t ask for anything more. No egos, completely on board, training’s been brilliant. Enzo [Fernandez], Reece [James], [Tosin Adarabioyo] — in terms of leadership and their management of the group when the manager’s gone and there’s an interim in.”
Chelsea captain Reece James speaks about the club’s tumultuous week
How difficult is it when a manager leaves like Maresca did? " Of course it’s difficult, but we have to fight for each other. That’s the only thing we have in this moment — together, each other.”
Do you know when the new manager will be appointed? “We know nothing at the moment. This whole week was about this game. What happens behind the scenes is not down to us. We came here focused on the game and we take a point out of a really difficult place to come. We have to recover and play again in a few days, and we will see what happens in the coming days.”
…
“We had to accept what went on earlier in the week and put it behind us. We came here with a game plan. We know what level we can perform at when we’re all together, all firing. The first half, we made a slight error for their goal, but second half as the game went on we grew into the game. We knew a chance would come, and this guy [nudges Enzo Fernandez] took his chance when it came.”
On the game plan and halftime changes: “First of all, credit to the staff that stepped up. They haven’t been in this role before. To come to City away as your first first-team game, it’s difficult. We had to adapt fast. First half, we felt they had too much of the ball, we had to make slight adjustments. In the second half we came out with a slightly different plan. As the game went on, we grew into it.”
On the team’s leadership, unity: “We’re in a difficult moment. We have to stand together, stand as a unity. We are one. There’s many [players] that traveled [with the team] that we missed [due to injuries], but so many other players stepped up and that’s what we need. We fought as a team today and I’m proud of the boys.”
