Chelsea's Boss Maresca Labels Lead-Up Time as The 'Most Difficult 48 Hours' with the Blues

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca remarked that the run-up to Saturday's triumph against Everton represented "the toughest 48 hours" since his arrival at Stamford Bridge.

The 44-year-old offered a rather mysterious message in his after-game interview even after notching a 2-0 win at home thanks to strikes from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto.

Those crucial points sent 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 side's drought without a win to four outings.

Yet, when questioned about the full-back's contribution and overall performance, Maresca unexpectedly divulged his annoyance over the preceding two days within the club.

"How the lads are eager to improve has been excellent and this is the reason why I commend them - because with numerous problems, they are excelling after a difficult week," he commented.

"Since I joined the club, the past 48 hours have been the worst because a lot of people failed to back us."

When pushed further on what he meant, the ex- Leicester City manager added: "Most difficult 48 hours since I joined the club because people didn't support me and the team."

When questioned if he was referring to people within at Chelsea, he answered: "In general. In general," before specifying when asked if it was directed towards fans or the press: "I adore the fans and we are extremely pleased with the fans."

Injury and Disciplinary Crisis

Maresca also drew attention to Chelsea's ongoing fitness and suspension problems, remarking they had been missing star attacker Cole Palmer for a large portion of the campaign, as well as losing key midfielder Moises Caicedo to a three-game ban and striker Liam Delap to two serious injuries.

"I truly praise the players and the squad because we played 16 Premier League games, five of them minus Moises Caicedo, eleven of them without Cole Palmer, almost all of them without Liam Delap," he explained.

"And this squad, regardless of who is playing, they are performing fantastic. Today was 5 games in 12 days so undoubtedly when you see Cole Palmer playing, we have said many times that he's our finest player but we play the vast majority of the season minus our top player.

"We play five games in the Premier League without Moises Caicedo. This is the explanation why I'm so pleased for the players and it's something that I would want people outside to appreciate because the work from the players is outstanding."

Chelsea's success over Everton consolidated their standing in fourth in the Premier League table, with a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie at Cardiff and a league journey to Newcastle to come in the coming days.

Speculation Over Maresca's Comments

It was not immediately clear who or what caused Maresca to label the previous 48 hours as the most difficult of his tenure as Chelsea manager.

In that period, the coach had traveled back with his backroom team and players from his native Italy, held a training session at Cobham, attended a pre-game news conference where he seemed relaxed, and engineered a win over an high-flying Everton team.

It was unclear whether any specific press stories had irked him, if online comments 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, a section of which have still have yet to fully warm to him since his arrival from Leicester during July 2024.