Chelsea's Manager Enzo Maresca Calls Lead-Up Time as The 'Toughest 48 Hours' at the Blues

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca revealed that the preparation to the weekend's win against Everton constituted "the toughest 48 hours" of his tenure at Stamford Bridge.

The 44-year-old offered a rather mysterious statement in his post-match press conference even after securing a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge through goals from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto.

Those crucial points propelled Chelsea once again into the English top flight's top four, perhaps improving the mood following a loss to Atalanta in the Champions League that had stretched the team's winless run to consecutive outings.

But, when questioned about Gusto's contribution and overall performance, Maresca surprisingly divulged his frustration over the preceding 48-hour period within the club.

"The way the players are eager to improve has been fantastic and this is the reason why I praise them - because with a host of challenges, they are doing very well after a complicated week," he commented.

"Since I joined the club, the previous 48 hours have been the worst because several people withheld support from us."

Pressed on what he meant, the former Leicester City boss added: "Most difficult 48 hours since I came to the club because people failed to back me and the team."

When asked if he was referring to people internally at Chelsea, he answered: "In general. Overall," before clarifying when queried if it was aimed at fans or the press: "I love the fans and we are extremely pleased with the fans."

Fitness & Disciplinary Woes

Maresca also highlighted Chelsea's persistent injury and disciplinary issues, noting they had been missing star attacker Cole Palmer for a large portion of the campaign, in addition to being deprived of key midfielder Moises Caicedo to a three-match ban and striker Liam Delap to a couple of serious injuries.

"I really praise the players and the squad because we played 16 Premier League games, 5 of them minus Moises Caicedo, 11 of them minus Cole Palmer, nearly every one 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 for sure when you see Cole Palmer available, we have said many times that he's our top player but we play the vast majority of the season without our best player.

"We play five games in the Premier League without Moises Caicedo. This is the reason why I'm so pleased for the players and it's something that I would want people externally to acknowledge because the commitment from the players is fantastic."

Chelsea's triumph over Everton consolidated their position in 4th place in the Premier League table, with a Carabao Cup last-eight tie at Cardiff and a league trip to Newcastle scheduled next week.

Uncertainty Regarding Maresca's Comments

It was not immediately clear who or what caused Maresca to label the past 48 hours as the worst of his spell as Chelsea manager.

In that window, the Italian had returned with his backroom team and players from his native Italy, conducted a session at Cobham, faced a pre-match press briefing where he appeared relaxed, and secured a victory over an high-flying Everton team.

It was hard to discern whether any particular press stories had unsettled him, if social media discourse were a factor, or if it was something deeper from within the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca specifically took care to deny that it was an issue involving the club's supporters, a section of which have not yet fully warm to him since his arrival from Leicester during July last year.