The Boss Maresca Calls Lead-Up Time as The 'Most Difficult Two Days' at the Club

Chelsea gaffer Enzo Maresca revealed that the build-up to Saturday's win against Everton constituted "the worst 48 hours" of his tenure at Stamford Bridge.

The 44-year-old offered a rather mysterious message in his post-match press conference despite securing a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge thanks to goals from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto.

Those crucial points propelled Chelsea back into the English top flight's top four, potentially improving the atmosphere after a loss to Atalanta in the Champions League that had stretched the team's winless run to four matches.

But, when questioned about Gusto's contribution and general display, Maresca surprisingly shared his displeasure over the preceding two days at the organization.

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

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

When pushed further on what he meant, the ex- Leicester City manager elaborated: "Most difficult 48 hours since I came to the club because people didn't support me and the team."

When questioned if he meant people within at Chelsea, he answered: "Broadly speaking. Overall," before clarifying when queried if it was aimed at supporters or the media: "I love the fans and we are very happy with the fans."

Fitness & Disciplinary Crisis

Maresca also drew attention to Chelsea's persistent fitness and disciplinary problems, remarking they had been without star attacker Cole Palmer for a large portion of the season, as well as being deprived of key midfielder Moises Caicedo to a three-game ban and striker Liam Delap to two significant injuries.

"I really praise the players and the squad because we have played 16 Premier League games, 5 of them without Moises Caicedo, 11 of them minus Cole Palmer, nearly every one of them minus Liam Delap," he explained.

"And this squad, no matter who is on the pitch, they are performing brilliantly. Today was five games in 12 days so certainly when you see Cole Palmer playing, we said many times that he's our top player but we play the vast majority of the season without our best player.

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

Chelsea's success over Everton strengthened their position in 4th place in the Premier League standings, with a Carabao Cup last-eight tie at Cardiff and a league journey to Newcastle to come next week.

Uncertainty Over Maresca's Remark

It was unclear who or what prompted Maresca to label the previous 48 hours as the worst of his time as Chelsea head coach.

In that timeframe, the Italian had traveled back with his staff and players from Bergamo, held a session at Cobham, faced a pre-match news conference where he appeared at ease, and engineered a win over an in-form Everton team.

It was hard to discern whether any specific press stories had unsettled him, if social media comments played a role, or if it was something deeper from inside the club at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca specifically took care to deny that it was an issue related to the club's supporters, a section of which have still have yet to fully warm to him since his appointment from Leicester in July last year.