Chelsea's Boss Maresca Describes Lead-Up Time as His 'Toughest 48 Hours' at the Club

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca revealed that the build-up to the weekend's triumph against Everton constituted "the toughest 48 hours" since his arrival at Stamford Bridge.

The Italian offered a rather mysterious comment in his post-match interview even after notching a 2-0 win at home through finishes from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto.

Those three precious points sent Chelsea once again into the English top flight's top four, perhaps lightening the mood after a defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League that had stretched the side's winless run to four matches.

But, when asked about Gusto's contribution and general display, Maresca unexpectedly shared his annoyance over the preceding 48-hour period within the organization.

"How the squad want to improve has been excellent and this is the explanation why I praise them - because with numerous problems, they are excelling after a difficult week," he stated.

"Since I joined the club, the last 48 hours have been the toughest because many people withheld support from us."

When pushed further on the specifics, the ex- Leicester City manager added: "Worst 48 hours since I joined the club because people failed to back me and the team."

When asked if he meant people internally at Chelsea, he responded: "Broadly speaking. In general," before clarifying when queried if it was directed towards fans or the press: "I love the fans and we are very happy with the fans."

Fitness and Disciplinary Crisis

Maresca also drew attention to Chelsea's ongoing injury and suspension problems, remarking they had been without star attacker Cole Palmer for much of the campaign, as well as losing key midfielder Moises Caicedo to a three-game ban and striker Liam Delap to two serious injuries.

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

"And this squad, regardless of who is on the pitch, they are performing fantastic. Today was five games in 12 days so certainly when you see Cole Palmer available, we said many times that he's our finest player but we play almost all season without our best player.

"We play 5 games in the Premier League without Moises Caicedo. This is the explanation why I'm so happy for the players and it's something that I would want people externally to recognize because the effort from the players is fantastic."

Chelsea's triumph over Everton cemented their standing in 4th place in the Premier League table, with a Carabao Cup quarter-final clash at Cardiff and a league trip to Newcastle scheduled next week.

Speculation Over Maresca's Comments

It was not immediately clear what exactly prompted Maresca to describe the previous 48 hours as the most difficult of his time as Chelsea head coach.

In that window, the Italian had returned with his staff and players from his native Italy, held a training session at the training ground, faced a pre-match press briefing where he seemed at ease, and secured a win over an high-flying Everton side.

It was hard to discern whether any particular media reports had unsettled him, if online discourse were a factor, or if it was something more significant from inside the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca specifically took care to rule out that it was an matter involving the club's fans, a section of which have still have yet to fully warm to him since his arrival from Leicester during July last year.