High expectations unfair on new Chelsea, says Enzo Maresca

LONDON – Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca claimed that unrealistic demands are placed on his side, after a nervy 1-0 home win over Manchester United pushed the Blues towards Champions League qualification on May 16.

Marc Cucurella headed in the only goal 20 minutes from time to lift Chelsea into the Premier League’s top four and above Aston Villa, who earlier beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0, on goal difference.

Victory at Nottingham Forest on the final day of the campaign on May 25 will guarantee at least a top-five finish that will see the Blues return to the Champions League after a two-year absence.

Maresca’s men can also end the season with a trophy should they defeat Real Betis in the Conference League final.

Chelsea have spent over £1 billion (S$1.7 billion) on new signings in three years since an American consortium replaced Roman Abramovich as the club’s owners and expectations are high.

However, the majority of that investment has been splashed on promising young talent and Maresca believes his side should be afforded more patience.

“For me the problem is that in general, people, you the press, you still think that Chelsea is the same Chelsea as years ago. It’s not the same,” insisted the Italian.

“Tonight (Nicolas) Jackson was suspended, we played with Tyrique (George) and six players from the academy (in the squad). Years ago, if (Didier) Drogba was out, Diego Costa was playing or Fernando Torres. This is a completely different Chelsea.

“I can understand that people struggle to see that. But we are in the right direction, hopefully we can bring the club where the club deserves to be.”

Maresca also praised Cucurella for his “sense of timing” as well as the footballing philosophy that he learnt while coming through the academy at Barcelona.

The left-back had similarly snatched the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Leicester City in March, put the Blues on course to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in January and opened the scoring in a 2-1 win over Brentford in December. He was also among the scorers in a 4-0 thrashing of Southampton in February.

By the end of the game against United, the Stamford Bridge crowd were serenading him with chants of “Cu-cu-rella” along to the tune of Mexican folk song La Bamba.

United, meanwhile, are lying 16th following the defeat. The Red Devils’ target after a woeful season is winning the Europa League final against Tottenham on May 21.

“I think we started great but, in the final third, we needed to be a bit more aggressive. Sometimes, we want to press and to score a goal but we lost a little bit of concentration,” said manager Ruben Amorim.

On the Cup showdown against Spurs, he added: “It’s five days that we have to prepare. We are excited to be in the final. We will be prepared for the final.

“Since day one, the pressure is one I deal with quite well. Also the players at Manchester United know that. In the past, we’ve had some difficulties in the league but in the final, when you have a final of any Cup, we show up. So we are prepared for that.” AFP, REUTERS