Maresca Speaks On Chelsea Top Four Aspiration
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca has revealed that the target for the team is to make the Premier League top four, while ensuring they make a return to the Champions League next season.
The Italian manager has been a subject of criticism in recent weeks following the team’s poor form, which has seen them win only two out of their last eight games in the league.
Consequently, The Blues currently occupy the sixth position on the Premier League log with 13 matches to go.
Maresca has urged the players to win their last seven home games to seal a top four place, and a return to the Champions League in 2022.
He said: “We have 13 games to go and seven of them are at home,” Maresca told a news conference on Friday. “I think that winning the seven at home can be enough to finish top four.”
Out of Chelsea’s last seven home matches, six of their opponents are currently in the bottom half of the table, with Liverpool the only exception.
Maresca has led the team to six wins out of their first 12 home matches, drawing four and losing twice to record the seventh-best home record in the Premier League.
He said: “We’ve spent almost our season in the top four.
“Now we have just 13 games to go, so now the target for us is to finish in the top four, to try to finish in the best way.
“The difficult moment that we have now is probably because of the injury situation. We have five, six players that are significant players that are out.
“I watched the first game against Villa (a 3-0 win in December) and we probably have five players that are out. The team has changed completely.”
Chelsea suffered back-to-back defeats to Brighton, first in the FA Cup, and then a disappointing 3-0 defeat in the Premier League to dent their top four hopes.
Maresca has reiterated that he is at Stamford Bridge to win trophies despite the recent poor performances.
He said: “I’ve been clear since day one. I’m not here to survive, I’m here to win games. I’m here to bring this club to fight for titles.
“The problem is that when you win games you look humble, and when you don’t win you look like you lack ambition.
“Nothing has changed, only unfortunately that we are dealing with many injuries. This has affected the level of the team,“he said.
“I’m ambitious. The club is ambitious. We have the same manager and same players and same sporting director as two months ago when we were second in the league.
The Blues have been plagued with injuries to key players in recent weeks, Noni Madueke is expected to be out until April with a hamstring injury. Nico Jackson, and Marc Guiu have been ruled out until April.
Chelsea’s only chance of winning a trophy this season is in the Europa Conference League, where they have paired against Copenhagen in the second round of Uefa’s third tier competition.
Maresca Speaks On Chelsea Top Four Aspiration is first published on The Whistler Newspaper