Chelsea boss confident of soon beating one of Premier League’s elite
edmund@slpmedia.co.uk
Enzo Maresca reckons it is only a matter of time before his Chelsea side claim a win against one of the Premier League elite.
The Blues picked up a point in their 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Sunday evening and stay third in the table heading into the November international break.
Chelsea are yet to beat any of the traditional top-four clubs this season, losing to Liverpool and Manchester City. They drew against Manchester United.
Summer signing Pedro Neto scored the equaliser in the 70th minute with a long-range drilled effort beyond Arsenal stopper David Raya.
“The performance was good – we played the way we want to play,” said Maresca. “We 100 per cent at least deserved a point. The game was open in some moments and it could have gone either way. I’m very happy.
“We’re behind the clubs like Manchester City and Arsenal – they have worked every day for the last five years or nine years with the same manager.
“This doesn’t mean that when we face them, we’re not going to try and win.
“Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in the world. We need to compete and to try to win games.
“Very soon we will win this kind of game. We try and play face to face against every team. We are Chelsea, so it is important to send this message.”
Noni Madueke was replaced by Mykhailo Mudryk midway through the second half against the Gunners and immediately headed down the tunnel.
“When you change a player, they are never happy,” Maresca said.
“Probably the only way to be happy is like the Wolves game, when he scored a hat-trick and we changed him, so he was happy.
“It’s not only about Noni, it’s about all the players. It’s a good thing because they want to be there until the end. But, in that moment, we saw it in a different way. We thought Pedro, against [Jurrien] Timber, could be a bit more aggressive, and with Micha [Mykhailo Mudryk] also. It was a tactical decision, no more than that.
“Defensively, we were very good, apart from the goal we conceded, but the rest we were good.”
The Blues head to Maresca’s old side Leicester after the international break.
“I try to be focused on the day by day,” said the Italian coach.
“I was just asked where I see the club in May at the end of the season. I’m not worried where we can be at the end of the season. I’m more worried how we can improve the players and the team.”