Enzo Maresca’s comments may have upset some Chelsea supporters (Image: Getty)
has endured a somewhat turbulent relationship with Chelsea fans in recent times. With that in mind, pledging his support towards their rivals was probably not the best idea. The 45-year-old tactician’s focus turns to the UEFA Conference League on Thursday, where will look to maintain their 100 per cent winning record when they take on FC Copenhagen. Carrying a 2-1 lead into the second leg at Stamford Bridge, anything other than a win would turn up the heat on Maresca. The beleaguered boss is starting to lose some backing from the fans who chanted his name earlier in the season, and he did himself no favours after revealing he would be supporting Spurs in the Europa League.
If Spurs win tomorrow and are also victorious in Europe, the Blues will play the first leg of the quarter-finals against Molde or Legia Warsaw away from home. If not, they will be at home. Maresca was then asked if he would be ‘cheering on’ their London rivals because of the slight advantage – and the Italian’s response might have upset some of their passionate fans, who have a long-held disdain for their capital rivals.
“It’s an English team, I hope for England they [Spurs] go through that game,” he said on Wednesday. “You never know, sometimes it is better to play at home and sometimes away. We need to be focused on us and then we will see.”
One can’t fault Maresca for speaking his mind, describing situations for what they are, and his honesty is respected by players and pundits. But his obliviousness to the fierce rivalry that exists between ‘s traditional fans and Spurs – something Jose Mourinho and Thomas Tuchel took on board without any reminding – could represent a major error on his part.
Chelsea beat Leicester 1-0 but their fans weren’t happy with the performance (Image: Getty)
It comes only four days after he called for more support to be lended to his players when they were jeered during a drab 1-0 win over Premier League strugglers Leicester City. While the fans groaned and grew frustrated with the number of passes back, Maresca celebrated wildly when Marc Cucurella scored the winning goal and was equally passionate at the final whistle.
Then, he defended his stars in bizarre fashion, warning them he would drop them if they didn’t follow his instructions on how to play. It seems that it’s either his way or sit on the bench, and the likes of Joao Felix and Renato Veiga – who both left in January – are proof in the pudding.
In the same news conference, Maresca was also quizzed on whether he would continue to select as his penalty taker. Given that the 22-year-old had scored in 12 of his 13 previous attempts, there was no doubting about his talents from the spot. Instead, the ex-Leicester boss sought to take the pressure off Palmer by predicting he will see more penalties saved in the future.
Cole Palmer missed from the penalty spot and received some odd words of support (Image: Getty)
“Absolutely. I said Cole is going to miss more penalties and the reason why is because he is the one in charge to shoot the penalties. If you don’t shoot, you don’t miss,” he added. “So I don’t have any doubts that he is going to miss more penalties in the future, but he is also going to score more penalties. I don’t think that the other day affected him in a negative way.”
Palmer hasn’t scored in eight games, a rarity for such a gifted player, and he might’ve benefited from an arm around the shoulder instead of some brutal realism from Maresca.
Telling him he’s going to miss again certainly isn’t the best motivational line ever spoken, and the boss would be advised to watch his words if he wants to avoid putting pressure on himself heading into the final stretch of the season.