Chelsea's Boss Enzo Maresca Labels Pre-Match Period as His 'Worst Two Days' at the Blues
Chelsea tactician Enzo Maresca revealed that the preparation to Saturday's win against Everton was "the toughest 48 hours" of his tenure with the London club.
The 44-year-old offered a puzzling message in his post-match press conference despite notching a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge through goals from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto.
Those points lifted Chelsea back into the Premier League's top four, perhaps improving the mood after a defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League that had stretched the team's drought without a win to four outings.
Yet, when asked about the full-back's contribution and overall performance, Maresca surprisingly disclosed his frustration over the preceding 48-hour period within the club.
"How the players want to develop has been excellent and this is the explanation why I applaud them - because with a host of issues, they are excelling after a difficult week," he said.
"From the moment I arrived at the club, the past 48 hours have been the worst because several people failed to back us."
Pressed on what he meant, the ex- Leicester City manager added: "Most difficult 48 hours since I came to the club because people didn't support me and the team."
When questioned if he meant people internally at Chelsea, he replied: "In general. In general," before specifying when queried if it was aimed at supporters or the media: "I love the fans and we are very content with the fans."
Injury and Suspension Crisis
Maresca also highlighted Chelsea's persistent fitness and suspension problems, remarking they had been without star attacker Cole Palmer for a large portion of the season, as well as being deprived of linchpin Moises Caicedo to a three-game ban and forward Liam Delap to a couple of serious injuries.
"I truly praise the players and the squad because we have played 16 Premier League games, five of them minus Moises Caicedo, 11 of them minus Cole Palmer, nearly every one of them without Liam Delap," he explained.
"And this squad, no matter who is playing, they are doing brilliantly. Today was 5 games in 12 days so undoubtedly when you see Cole Palmer playing, we said many times that he's our best player but we play almost all season minus our top player.
"We play 5 games in the Premier League without Moises Caicedo. This is the reason why I'm so pleased for the players and it's something that I would like people externally to appreciate because the effort from the players is fantastic."
Chelsea's win over Everton cemented their position in 4th place in the Premier League table, with a Carabao Cup quarter-final clash at Cardiff and a league journey to Newcastle scheduled in the coming days.
Speculation Regarding Maresca's Remark
It was unclear who or what prompted Maresca to describe the past 48 hours as the worst of his spell as Chelsea head coach.
In that period, the coach had returned with his backroom team and players from Bergamo, conducted a training session at the training ground, faced a pre-match press briefing where he seemed relaxed, and engineered a win over an high-flying Everton team.
It was unclear whether any particular press stories had unsettled him, if online discourse played a role, or if it was something deeper from inside the club at Stamford Bridge.
Maresca specifically took care to rule out that it was an issue related to the club's supporters, some of whom have still have yet to fully embrace him since his arrival from Leicester in July last year.
