Chelsea director makes statement on Enzo Maresca future after ‘worst loss’ at Brighton

Chelsea have struggled for results for several weeks as they slide down the table but one of the club’s directors has made it clear that Enzo Maresca is under no pressure

Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein is adamant Enzo Maresca will see out the season as he maintained the Italian is doing “a great job”.

The Blues bought in Maresca from Leicester back in the summer having axed Mauricio Pochettino and initially enjoyed a promising start with the west Londoners sitting second in December. They were tipped as outsiders for the Premier League title, but have since fallen away.

Now Maresca and Chelsea are in a battle to finish in the top four as they continue to struggle for results. The Blues have won just three of their last 11 games in all competitions with their only realistic hope of silverware coming in the Europa Conference League.

The Stamford Bridge hierarchy have shown themselves willing to fly through managers having already moved on Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Pochettino in less than three years – but Goldstein has given a glowing endorsement of their current boss.

He told BloombergTV: “He is doing a great job. Chelsea have started the season very well. The last six weeks [they] have been finding their feet a little bit more. But Enzo has clearly done a great job in bringing the team together, bringing the talent through and we’re very optimistic for the rest of the season, and how that plays out.”

Asked if Maresca would see out the season, Goldstein responded: “100 per cent”.

Chelsea have lost their last two games, both of them at Brighton. Their first reverse saw them dumped out of the FA Cup before they were beaten 3-0 at the Amex just six days later as Kaoru Mitoma showcased his class to embarrass the Blues backline.

Maresca confessed that the display on the south coast was the worst since he arrived. His expensively assembled side struggled to cope with the Seagulls whilst a number of their leading lights have seen their form levels drop off.

The Italian told the club’s website: “Probably since I arrived that is the worst performance, especially in the moment we are in. We are fourth in the league and winning tonight you can go one point from third and make the gap to the rest bigger.

“The performance is not one you want to offer, so we are very upset, and especially very sorry for the fans who were here, and in general to our fans, because in this moment you cannot offer this kind of performance with 14 games to go, now 13 games to go. In terms of desire, we need to show more.”

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