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Maresca empathized with the holders’ injury woes, and went on to play down Chelsea’s claim to the PL crown this season.
Cheslea boss Enzo Maresca. (AP Photo)
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca backed Manchester City gaffer Pep Guardiola to find a way out of the rut the champions find themselves in as they stand seventh in the Premier League table heading into Christmas.
Maresca, who worked under Guardiola at City, empathised with the holders’ injury woes, and went on to play down Chelsea’s claim to the PL crown this season.
City stand seventh with 27 points from 17 outings, while Chelsea are only behind table-toppers Liverpool in the table with 35 points under their belt.
“Manchester City at the end will be there. They are in a moment that has never happened before,” the Chelsea head coach said.
“Every time they play a game, they have an injury, and they don’t have enough players in this moment. And the ones they have are not 100 per cent because they have just come back from injury, so it is a very bad situation,” he added.
Maresca went on to set the bar high for himself and opined that the team has to work towards improvements on their play, but brushed away aside talks of title pressure.
“We are ahead of our expectations, in terms of the way we are playing, and the points we have, but the main focus is how we can improve the players and how we can improve the team,” Maresca stated.
“It is not about the pressure for the players or for the club or for me, it is just the reality,” the gaffer said.
“I would like to have that kind of pressure and hopefully soon we can, but the reason why I said we are not there yet, is because the reality is that we are not.”
He touched upon the confidence instilled in table-toppers Liverpool squad due to their history of appearances in finals and found that it was something his young and rather inexperienced unit at Chelsea lacked.
“But Liverpool have done a fantastic job since the first day, and the squad has lived that kind of moment, winning a trophy, which is important,” the 44-year-old said.
“Last year, when Liverpool faced Chelsea in the Carabao (League) Cup final I saw the amount of finals that Liverpool players had played in, and the number of finals Chelsea players had played in, and there was a huge difference. So it shows the experience you need, but we are happy to be where we are.”
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United Kingdom (UK)
