Chelsea fans were already disappointed with the 2-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday night but something Enzo Maresca said afterwards has bothered them even more.
The Blues went 1-0 up within five minutes, thanks to Bart Verbruggen’s terrible mistake from Cole Palmer’s cross, although the lead didn’t last long.
Trevoh Chalobah’s poor positioning allowed Georginio Rutter to equalise seven minutes later and Kaoru Mitoma gave the home side the advantage in the second half.
Chelsea offered little going forward despite chasing the game so fans had every right to feel let down by the performance.
What nobody expected was for Maresca to make matters worse in his post-match press conference with an unnecessary comment that hasn’t gone down well with supporters.
- READ MORE: Enzo Maresca makes claim about Joao Felix straight after Chelsea’s FA Cup defeat to Brighton
What Enzo Maresca said about Chelsea going out of FA Cup
No Chelsea fan wanted Maresca to tear into the players like Antonio Conte in his famous rant towards the end of his Tottenham tenure.
However, especially for the 7,000 fans who travelled south to the AMEX Stadium, he should have been more careful with his words.
“Probably, if there is something positive, it’s that now we can be focused on the Premier League and the Conference League,” the Blues boss said.
“Especially in the Premier League, hopefully, we can continue our journey there, which has been very very good until now. Hopefully, we can finish well.”
Of course, Chelsea now have no choice but to concentrate on those two competitions but to suggest that exiting the FA Cup is in any way ‘positive’ was bad judgement.
Chelsea fans are unhappy with Enzo Maresca’s comments
Many Chelsea fans have shared their thoughts on Maresca’s statement on X and the posts are unanimously negative.
One wrote: “Yeah sack him I’m done with his championship mentality.” Another added: “Maresca’s approach is not just defeatist; it’s a recipe for mediocrity.”
“Even the worst Chelsea coaches get to the cup semi-finals at least. Maresca’s standards are too low,” a Blues fan Tweeted.
One supporter said: “There’s nothing positive about missing out on a trophy we’ve been chasing since 2018. I will not accept this. Pathetic and weak reply.”
“Tell that to the 7000 fans who spent hours travelling and their hard-earned cash that it’s a positive,” another posted.
A Blues fan commented: “What sort of mentality does this guy have? He doesn’t sound like a winner at all.”
Maresca has also applied more pressure on himself as Chelsea fans now have one more reason not to accept finishing outside of the Champions League places or not winning the Conference League.
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