Chelsea's Boss Enzo Maresca Describes Lead-Up Time as His 'Most Difficult 48 Hours' with the Blues

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca remarked that the build-up to the weekend's triumph against Everton represented "the worst 48 hours" since his arrival with the London club.

The Italian made a puzzling statement in his after-game interview despite earning a 2-0 win at home thanks to strikes from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto.

Those crucial points sent Chelsea once again into the English top flight's top four, potentially improving the mood after a defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League that had stretched the team's winless run to consecutive matches.

However, when asked about Gusto's assist and overall performance, Maresca unexpectedly shared his annoyance over the previous two days within the club.

"How the players are eager to learn has been superb and this is the reason why I praise them - because with a host of problems, they are performing admirably after a difficult week," he commented.

"From the moment I arrived at the club, the previous 48 hours have been the worst because many people failed to back us."

When pushed further on the specifics, the former Leicester City boss elaborated: "Most difficult 48 hours since I came to the club because people didn't support me and the team."

When asked if he was referring to people within at Chelsea, he responded: "In general. In general," before clarifying when asked if it was directed towards supporters or the media: "I adore the fans and we are very content with the fans."

Injury & Suspension Crisis

Maresca also drew attention to Chelsea's persistent fitness and suspension issues, remarking they had been missing key forward Cole Palmer for a large portion of the season, in addition to being deprived of linchpin Moises Caicedo to a three-game ban and forward Liam Delap to a couple of significant injuries.

"I truly commend the players and the squad because we played 16 Premier League games, 5 of them without Moises Caicedo, eleven of them without Cole Palmer, almost all of them without Liam Delap," he explained.

"And this squad, no matter who is playing, they are doing fantastic. Today was 5 games in 12 days so for sure when you see Cole Palmer there, we said many times that he's our top player but we play the vast majority of the season without our best player.

"We play 5 games in the Premier League without Moises Caicedo. This is the reason why I'm so pleased for the players and it's something that I would like people externally to acknowledge because the effort from the players is remarkable."

Chelsea's success over Everton consolidated their standing in 4th place in the Premier League standings, with a Carabao Cup last-eight clash at Cardiff and a league journey to Newcastle to come in the coming days.

Speculation Over Maresca's Remark

It was ambiguous what exactly caused Maresca to describe the past 48 hours as the worst of his tenure as Chelsea manager.

In that window, the coach had traveled back with his backroom team and players from his native Italy, held a training session at the training ground, faced a pre-game press briefing where he appeared relaxed, and engineered a victory over an high-flying Everton team.

It was not obvious whether any specific media reports had irked him, if social media discourse were a factor, or if it was something more significant from within the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca specifically took care to deny that it was an issue related to the club's fans, a section of which have not yet fully embrace him since his arrival from Leicester during July last year.