The Boss Enzo Maresca Describes Pre-Match Period as His 'Toughest 48 Hours' with the Blues

Chelsea tactician Enzo Maresca revealed that the build-up to the weekend's win against Everton constituted "the toughest 48 hours" since his arrival with the London club.

The 44-year-old made a somewhat cryptic message in his post-match interview even after securing a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge through finishes from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto.

Those three precious points propelled Chelsea back into the English top flight's top four, perhaps improving the mood following a defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League that had extended the side's drought without a win to consecutive outings.

Yet, when questioned about the full-back's assist and general performance, Maresca unexpectedly disclosed his displeasure over the preceding two days within the organization.

"How the players want to learn has been excellent and this is the reason why I applaud them - because with a host of challenges, they are performing admirably after a tricky week," he said.

"Since I joined the club, the past 48 hours have been the toughest because a lot of people withheld support from us."

When pushed further on the specifics, the former Leicester City manager continued: "Most difficult 48 hours since I joined the club because people failed to back me and the team."

When questioned if he was referring to people within at Chelsea, he replied: "In general. In general," before specifying when queried if it was directed towards supporters or the press: "I love the fans and we are very content with the fans."

Fitness and Disciplinary Woes

Maresca also drew attention to Chelsea's persistent fitness and disciplinary problems, noting they had been missing key forward Cole Palmer for a large portion of the campaign, in addition to losing key midfielder Moises Caicedo to a three-match ban and forward Liam Delap to two serious injuries.

"I really applaud the players and the squad because we played 16 Premier League games, five of them without Moises Caicedo, 11 of them minus Cole Palmer, almost all of them without Liam Delap," he explained.

"And this squad, regardless of who is on the pitch, they are performing fantastic. Today was 5 games in 12 days so for sure when you see Cole Palmer available, we said many times that he's our finest player but we play almost all season minus our top player.

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

Chelsea's win over Everton strengthened their standing in 4th place in the Premier League standings, with a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie at Cardiff and a league journey to Newcastle scheduled next week.

Uncertainty Regarding Maresca's Comments

It was not immediately clear what exactly caused Maresca to label the past 48 hours as the most difficult of his spell as Chelsea manager.

In that period, the Italian had returned with his staff and players from his native Italy, conducted a training session at the training ground, faced a pre-match press briefing where he appeared relaxed, and engineered a win over an in-form Everton team.

It was unclear whether any specific press stories had irked him, if online comments were a factor, or if it was something deeper from within the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca only sought to rule out that it was an matter involving the club's fans, a section of which have not yet fully warm to him since his arrival from Leicester during July last year.