Enzo Maresca is doing his media duties after Chelsea’s 101 draw with Crystal Palace at home, and the notably blunt Italian is saying some things that aren’t going to go down too well with Blues fans we fear.
Asked by BBC’s Match of the Day interviewers whether he was frustrated by the result, Maresca made it clear that fans are asking too much if they expect this Chelsea team to win every week:
“Probably one thing that has to be clear, Chelsea three years ago won the Champions League but now it is not that kind of Chelsea so now sometimes if you don’t win it is normal,” the former Leicester boss explained.
It echoes what Mauricio Pochettino kept repeating last year about fans changing their expectations and this being a “new Chelsea.” It’s not something fans are ever going to be comfortable with – being told to adjust their expectations to the new normal, which is basically being a big Brighton in London: buy cheap young players on long contracts, sell them for a profit down the line. Any wins and trophies you get along the way are just a bonus really.
The only difference is that we’re aiming for the top 4 and Brighton are aiming for the top 8. The model is otherwise the same.
Chelsea spend billions to try to make money
We get it – we used to be a billionaire’s plaything, and now we’re owned by a money making enterprise who don’t want us to just break even – they want us to make a profit. It should be no surprise that the focus is no longer on winning trophies.
What we would question, then, is why so much money has been spent. Surely you don’t need to spent billions to turn a Champions League team into a Conference League team?