Chelsea's Manager Maresca Calls Lead-Up Time as His 'Toughest 48 Hours' at the Club
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca remarked that the run-up to Saturday's triumph against Everton was "the toughest 48 hours" of his tenure with the London club.
The Italian offered a somewhat cryptic statement in his post-match media briefing even after securing a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge through goals from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto.
Those three precious points sent Chelsea back into the English top flight's top four, perhaps improving the atmosphere after a loss to Atalanta in the Champions League that had stretched the side's winless run to four fixtures.
But, when asked about Gusto's contribution and overall display, Maresca unexpectedly disclosed his annoyance over the previous two days at the organization.
"How the lads are eager to develop has been excellent and this is the reason why I applaud them - because with so many challenges, they are excelling after a complicated week," he said.
"Since I joined the club, the previous 48 hours have been the worst because a lot of people withheld support from us."
When pushed further on what he meant, the former Leicester City boss added: "Most difficult 48 hours since I joined the club because people failed to back me and the team."
When questioned if he meant people within at Chelsea, he replied: "In general. In general," before specifying when queried if it was directed towards supporters or the media: "I love the fans and we are very pleased with the fans."
Fitness & Suspension Crisis
Maresca also highlighted Chelsea's persistent fitness and suspension issues, remarking they had been without key forward Cole Palmer for a large portion of the campaign, in addition to being deprived of key midfielder Moises Caicedo to a three-game ban and striker Liam Delap to two significant injuries.
"I really applaud the players and the squad because we played 16 Premier League games, five of them minus Moises Caicedo, 11 of them without Cole Palmer, almost all of them minus Liam Delap," he explained.
"And this squad, regardless of who is on the pitch, they are doing exceptionally. Today was 5 games in 12 days so certainly when you see Cole Palmer available, we said many times that he's our finest player but we play almost all season minus our top player.
"We play five games in the Premier League minus Moises Caicedo. This is the explanation why I'm so pleased for the players and it's something that I would like people outside to appreciate because the commitment from the players is remarkable."
Chelsea's success over Everton strengthened their position in 4th place in the Premier League standings, with a Carabao Cup quarter-final clash at Cardiff and a league trip to Newcastle to come in the coming days.
Speculation Over Maresca's Comments
It was unclear who or what caused Maresca to label the past 48 hours as the worst of his spell as Chelsea manager.
In that timeframe, the coach had traveled back with his staff and players from Bergamo, held a session at Cobham, attended a pre-match news conference where he appeared relaxed, and secured a win over an high-flying Everton team.
It was unclear whether any particular press stories had irked him, if online discourse played a role, or if it was something deeper from within the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge.
Maresca specifically took care to rule out that it was an matter related to the club's fans, some of whom have still have yet to fully warm to him since his arrival from Leicester during July 2024.
