Enzo Maresca has promised Chelsea fans he will deliver the entertainment they demand, adding it is on him and his team to turn the jeers into cheers as they look to confirm their place in the Conference League’s semi-finals on Thursday night.
Maresca riskily criticised Stamford Bridge’s supporters after Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Ipswich as he suggested the negative atmosphere contributed to them falling 2-0 down.
He will now return to the touchline for their second leg with Legia Warsaw, having won the first leg 3-0 last week in Poland, and used his pre-match press conference to ask for ‘trust’.
‘Us, with our support, our fans, we are a better team, we are stronger,’ Maresca said. ‘I completely understand that us as a team, we need to engage the fans, something that probably on Sunday we were not able to do. It’s also on us to be good enough.’
Asked if his philosophy can prove entertaining, Maresca said: ‘One hundred per cent, and then also because I’m not able to do a different kind of style. I’m not the one to do a different kind.
‘The last six Premier League games at home, we faced Southampton, Leicester, Wolves, West Ham, Spurs and Ipswich. We won five, and probably the one that the people more enjoyed has been the Spurs one. But Spurs was the only team in the last six games at home that tried to press higher. This is the reason why we attacked more and quicker.
Enzo Maresca insisted he is not able to coach his team to play anything other than entertaining football ahead of Chelsea’s quarter-final second leg in the Conference League
The Italian boss recently criticised the negative atmosphere from fans at Stamford Bridge
‘The rest, they wait inside the box, it’s a different game. We need to learn how to play different kinds of games. Tactically, we change. Game by game, we change.’
Maresca’s Chelsea took the Premier League by storm in the first half of the season. However, the second half has been more of a struggle, with opponents choosing to set up in low blocks.
‘Fans, they have to trust us, they have to trust the team, they have to trust the club, what we are doing now,’ Maresca added. ‘The reason why is because, in the last two seasons, Chelsea were zero times in the top four, and this season we spent almost all of our season in the top four.
‘It’s big proof that the team is improving. Now, is it enough? For me, no. Because I would like to fight with this club for titles, for the Premier League, for the Champions League. But at the same time, we have to be realistic and see that this team, this season, is improving. It’s there, it’s numbers.’