Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has suggested that he is frustrated with one of his side's defensive tendencies ahead of the new season.
Ever since commencing work at Cobham on July 8, the former Leicester City boss has been attempting to enforce his philosophy on his vastly-populated squad.
A 28-player group was initially announced for a pre-season tour of the United States, which concluded on Tuesday night with a showdown against European champions Real Madrid.
As was the case against Manchester City at the weekend, Chelsea performed abysmally in defence during the early stages of the game, being 2-0 down within 27 minutes.
Lucas Vasquez and Brahim Diaz each got on the scoresheet for Los Blancos before Noni Madueke's header at the back post halved the deficit ahead of the half-time whistle.
However, Chelsea were unable to get back on level terms after the break, going down by a 2-1 scoreline as they lost their third match during their time Stateside.
Defensive concerns for Maresca
Although Chelsea kept a clean sheet in a 3-0 victory over Club America, the West Londoners conceded 12 times in the other four fixtures against Wrexham, Celtic, City and Real.
A number of the goals that Chelsea have shipped have been calamitous, Maresca hoping that it is a consequence of his players being unfamiliar with his style of play.
Speaking after the match in North Carolina, the Italian alluded to his back three going against his wishes and playing a higher line than he wants to deploy.
As quoted by Nizaar Kinsella of BBC Sport, Maresca said: "One of my first meetings with the squad was about the amount of goals we conceded last year with the defensive line very high.
"We are not working on defensive lines so high. It's a habit from last year, or years ago, I don't know.
"We are trying to drop the defensive line a little bit, usually about four or five metres, just to have some advantage. Last year, we already conceded many goals with this problem. Hopefully we can solve it very soon."
What next for Chelsea?
Chelsea will now return to England for their final pre-season fixture, a home encounter against Italian champions Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge.
Maresca suggested on Tuesday evening that Marc Cucurella and Cole Palmer - who were involved at Euro 2024 until July 14 - and the previously-injured Nicolas Jackson are unlikely to be risked in that contest.
A week later, Chelsea play host to Man City in their Premier League opener on August 18, before hosting either Braga or Servette in the first leg of their Europa Conference League playoff tie on August 22.
