Maresca isn’t the only EPL boss to have ever made unexpected complaints to the media. Will this influence betting on Chelsea’s chances of success?
| 2025/26 Premier League Outright Markets | Odds |
|---|---|
| Chelsea (Winner) | 31.00 |
| Chelsea (Top 2 Finish) | 9.00 |
| Chelsea (Top 4 Finish) | 1.85 |
| Chelsea (Top 5 Finish) | 1.49 |
Odds courtesy of 1xBet. Correct at time of publishing and subject to change.
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Do Maresca’s complaints suggest he is in trouble?
It seemed like a strange time for Enzo Maresca to complain after winning 2-0 at home. The Chelsea boss stated that he’d experienced the “worst 48 hours” since he took charge of the club.
This happened even though Cole Palmer returned to his starting XI. When the media asked the Italian manager to explain his comments, he eventually said that people did not support him or the squad.
It appears that Maresca is suggesting that the club’s American owners lack confidence in him. That is surprising, given that he won the Europa Conference League and the Club World Cup in his debut season.
Although the owners have spent nearly £1.5bn on new signings since their arrival, spending money doesn’t always guarantee instant success.
Valid reasons for the team’s struggles
There are mitigating circumstances for the Blues’ 2025/26 EPL season so far. They have been without their star forward, Cole Palmer, for most of the campaign due to injury. Additionally, summer signing Liam Delap has suffered injury issues, leaving Maresca without a main striker for most of the season.
Moreover, it seems that Chelsea’s busy summer schedule at the Club World Cup has exhausted their young squad. It’s comfortably the youngest squad in the EPL this season, with an average age of just 23.3 years. That’s 16 months younger than the next youngest squad (24.7) at Tottenham.
Maresca’s comments seem to be a request for patience after they beat Everton, as they’ve ended a four-game winless run in all competitions. The underlying data suggests the team is improving. They sit fifth in the xG table (1.64), only slightly behind Manchester City (1.66) and the current league leaders, Arsenal (1.72).
The Blues are also overperforming their xGA (1.15), having conceded just 0.94 goals per game so far this season. They have achieved this despite not having their strongest lineup available since August.
What happened after other EPL managers complained publicly?
Many Premier League bosses have made similar angry comments to the press in the past. In 2018, Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho pleaded for more respect just minutes after suffering the heaviest home defeat of his career to Tottenham.
At the time, the Portuguese had won more Premier League titles than the rest of the active managers in the EPL combined. He’d also won the Europa League with United just 12 months earlier. The players reacted positively to his comments, and United went on to win their next three competitive games.
In contrast, Antonio Conte made very harsh comments to the press in 2023 following Tottenham’s 3-3 draw at Southampton, having led 3-1. The Italian described many of the Tottenham players as “selfish” and stated that he didn’t “see a team” on the pitch. Unsurprisingly, Conte’s Tottenham won only one of their next four games after this press conference at St Mary’s. He was later fired by Daniel Levy.
Maresca is in a different situation than Conte. He has publicly protected his young players and also spoken of his love for the fans.
Chelsea have a very winnable EFL Cup quarter-final with Cardiff ahead. They will be within two wins of more silverware if they win this match. That’s followed by important games against Newcastle and Aston Villa, either side of Christmas.
Reaching an EFL Cup semi and wins over an out-of-sorts Newcastle and an in-form Villa could revitalize the Blues’ EPL campaign.