How Enzo Maresca suddenly plunged Chelsea into chaos – and what could come next | OneFootball

It would have been an eyebrow-raising comment in any circumstance, but it stood out all the more after the most routine of home wins. Enzo Maresca still came out with the following after Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Everton: “The last 48 hours have been the worst 48 hours since I joined the club because so many people didn’t support us”.

He even reiterated it. There were numerous curiosities to this, mostly the fact that Maresca refused to elaborate on who he was talking about.

Just “many people”.

When he was asked who, and whether it was “internal”, Maresca said people “in general”.

When asked if it was the fans, he only said, “I love the fans and we are very happy with the fans”.

The pointed nature of the response was all the more remarkable given that Maresca didn’t mention any of this in his pre-game press conference, which would have been the height of this apparent 48-hour storm, but also that this was prompted by a benign question about Malo Gusto’s fine performance. The 22-year-old assisted Cole Palmer’s finish with a brilliant pass before scoring himself.

Maresca felt this was all the more notable given that it had been “a complicated week”.

“Again, it’s the effort from the players. We said many times that Reece [James] and Malo, they are both full-backs and today they were both midfielders. So the effort, the open mind, the way they want to learn has been fantastic and this is the reason why I praise the players because, with so many problems, they are doing very well after a complicated week.”

It was then that he launched into his comment about the last 48 hours.

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Malo Gusto doubled Chelsea's advantage in the first half but Maresca turned a question about him into an eyebrow-raising answer about his position (Getty Images)

And yet, in leaving it hanging there, it’s like Maresca has now created another 48 hours of intrigue and chaos around Chelsea – at least until Monday’s press conference before the Carabao Cup quarter-final away to Cardiff City.

The Premier League’s drama and sense of theatre moves from Anfield to Stamford Bridge.

There was even the extra narrative strand of Maresca abruptly – and unexpectedly – mentioning how he was to blame for the recent 3-2 defeat at Leeds United.

He had been asked how he picked his players up after a hard week, and said: “I try to convince them that this is football. This is part of football. You need to be ready. I took completely 100 per cent responsibility from the Leeds game. It’s been my mistake in terms of line-up, in terms of game plan. It was not about players. I think, again, that we are getting better and better and better. Especially with all this kind of situation that we try to manage since day one.”

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Maresca wanted to get a message off his chest after Chelsea ended a four-game winless run (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

In the information vacuum, all that was left was theorising. Was he talking about some of the responses to the 2-1 midweek defeat to Atalanta?

Was he talking about issues around the divided ownership? It is well known that Behdad Eghbali, the most powerful figure at the club, has made a point of backing him to people. Maresca is surely aware that his job is safe.

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Maresca’s comments have raised eyebrows and will turn attention to those in charge of Chelsea (Getty Images)

Is there tension with the football team around him?

All of this is now in the air, when most people were ready to talk about a highly valued goal from Palmer amid a return to recent form.

Even there, Maresca was a bit prickly and evasive, refusing to indulge in the usual soft-ball press conference stuff of talking positively about a star.

While acknowledging that Palmer is Chelsea’s best player, he instead wanted to insist that more credit should be given to those who pressed on without him.

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Palmer opened the scoring with his first Premier League goal in three months (Getty Images)

“I said many times that with Cole, we are a better team. I really praise the players and the squad because we played 16 Premier League games, five of them without Moises Caicedo, 11 of them without Cole Palmer, almost all of them without Liam Delap. And this squad, no matter who is playing, they are doing fantastic.

“Today was five games in 12 days so for sure when you see Cole Palmer there, we said many times that he's our best player, but we play almost all season without our best player. We play five games in the Premier League without Moises Caicedo. This is the reason why I’m so happy for the players and it’s something that I would like that from outside people can appreciate that because the effort from the players is fantastic.”

As to anyone on the outside appreciating what he actually meant with the headline comments, Maresca was unwilling to be so forthcoming.

David Moyes then perhaps put some of this into context when asked about the difference between the teams on the day.

“Maybe a billion-pound difference, possibly, you know what I mean?”

Maresca may not see it that way, but then it’s hard to know what he’s seeing right now.

As it is, everyone will be watching Chelsea with a new interest.