Enzo Maresca’s press conference today was ahead of a qualifying game for the Europa Conference League in August. Hardly box office. Yet because of the context around it, it turned into a truly fascinating one.
He had to address all sorts of topics, including the news about Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell training separately from the first team. He very coldly explained why that was.
“In this moment, they are training apart. The situation with them both is quite clear. There is not any update on their situations.”
It’s all come to a head because there is an open training session today, so there’s no hiding these things. But Maresca wasn’t messing around.
“No [their time at Chelsea isn’t over], because they are Chelsea players. Until they are Chelsea players, they want to be Chelsea players. We have a big squad and it is impossible to give them all minutes.
“If they are looking for minutes, then it is better if they leave. If they do not leave, then they have a contract here and they are Chelsea player.”
It’s pretty clear that this attitude is co-ordinated with the decision to make them train alone – don’t just force them out internally, make it clear to the world that they’re not wanted.
You can see him answering the questions in the clip embedded here:
https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/1826245649349693578
Cold-eyed killer Maresca takes no prisoners
It’s a pretty brutal response. But perhaps this reveals more about why he was hired. The club didn’t want a cuddly Pochettino type who would sympathise too much with the players, they wanted a ruthless executioner like Maresca who is happy to give players the chop.
Of course Maresca also has the insulation of saying that none of these are his decisions really – he didn’t give out the contracts, buy the players or decide who needs to go. He’s just following orders, and it’s nothing personal.
