Maresca comments raise eyebrows after Chelsea win

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.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

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 22year-old assisted Cole Palmer's finish with a brilliant scoring himself pass before Maresca felt this was all the more notable given that it had been "a complicated week".