Maresca: I’ve had the worst 48 hours since arriving at Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca launched a scathing attack on what he described as a lack of support following his team’s 2-0 victory over Everton on Saturday evening in the 16th round of the English Premier League.

The irate Italian manager confirmed that he had experienced “the worst 48 hours since joining the club,” despite the win that propelled the team back into the top four of the Premier League.

Against Everton, Malu Justo set up Cole Palmer’s opening goal before scoring the second himself.

Maresca’s provocative comments came when he was asked about Justo’s performance. He surprised everyone by subtly criticizing “certain individuals,” without specifying who he meant. When pressed for clarification, he refused to reveal who he was referring to, whether inside or outside the club, but he made a point of praising the Chelsea fans.

Maresca told the Daily Mail: “The last 48 hours have been the worst since I joined the club because a lot of people haven’t supported us.”

The manager, whose victory came after his team failed to win against Leeds, Bournemouth, and Atalanta in their last three matches, added: “I’m very happy for Malu Justo because the effort he and the rest of the players have put in shows they want to help this club.”

When asked to clarify his comments about the lack of support, Maresca reiterated: “The worst 48 hours since I joined the club because people haven’t supported me or the team.”

He then emphasized: “I love the fans, and we are very happy with their support.”

Speaking about returning to winning ways, the Chelsea manager said: “I take full responsibility, 100%, after the Leeds game. The mistake was mine, both in terms of the lineup and the game plan. It wasn’t the players’ fault. We are constantly improving, especially given all these circumstances that we have been trying to manage since day one.”

Everton manager David Moyes was blunt in describing the gulf between his team and Chelsea after a match that saw numerous scoring opportunities for both sides.

Moyes said: “There’s probably a billion-pound difference. At the end of the day, it’s 11 against 11, and that’s how we started. I think we played well.”

Everton suffered an early blow when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was forced off injured after just 16 minutes, with the nature of the injury yet to be revealed. Jack Grealish was substituted in the closing stages after feeling pain in his hamstring.

Moyes continued: “The only thing I can say is that we weren’t out of the game even when we were 2-0 down. Today, a win could have put us in the top four if we had gotten a positive result. I don’t like to talk about missed chances, but in football, when you get a chance, you have to take it. There was absolutely no lack of effort.”

The Everton manager concluded by saying: “We challenged the players to come to Chelsea and show they could keep up with them. Perhaps we just lacked the quality needed in the crucial moments.”