This Sunday, Chelsea host Nottingham Forest as part of the 7th day of the Premier League. After a solid start to the season with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat, the Blues are in 4th place in the standings, two small points from first place. But there is no question for coach Enzo Maresca of getting excited. At a press conference, he wanted to clarify the situation, believing that his team was not capable of tickling Manchester City and Arsenal in the long term. The Italian technician even believes that the difference in level is too great to hope to win the championship.
“I’ve said it before, I really don’t think we can stand up to Arsenal and Manchester City. I sincerely think so. We are not ready and the reason, I have said it several times, is that City have been working with the same coach for 9 years. Arsenal have worked with the same coach for 5 years. If we want to be competitive for important trophies, you need this time. After Arsenal-PSG, they asked Luis Enrique the question. And he answered the same thing. That the difference was that he had been there at PSG for a year and a half. So imagine for us, just 3 months… It’s a huge difference. I am convinced that we cannot compete with these clubs. Our goal is to get closer to them little by little, but we’re not there yet. We will continue to try but there is no deadline…” A lucid observation but which already makes supporters cringe who denounce a lack of ambition.
