Chelsea's Boss Enzo Maresca Labels Lead-Up Period as The 'Toughest 48 Hours' with the Club

Chelsea gaffer Enzo Maresca revealed that the run-up to the weekend's win against Everton represented "the toughest 48 hours" since his arrival with the London club.

The Italian offered a rather mysterious message in his post-match interview even after notching a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge thanks to goals from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto.

Those three precious points lifted Chelsea once again into the English top flight's top four, perhaps lightening the atmosphere after a defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League that had stretched the side's winless run to consecutive matches.

However, when questioned about the full-back's assist and overall performance, Maresca surprisingly divulged his displeasure over the preceding two days at the club.

"The way the lads want to learn has been excellent and this is the explanation why I praise them - because with numerous issues, they are doing very well after a tricky week," he stated.

"Since I joined the club, the previous 48 hours have been the most difficult because several people withheld support from us."

Pressed on the specifics, the former Leicester City manager continued: "Most difficult 48 hours since I joined the club because people failed to back me and the team."

When asked if he meant people within at Chelsea, he replied: "In general. In general," before clarifying when queried if it was directed towards supporters or the press: "I love the fans and we are extremely pleased with the fans."

Injury & Suspension Crisis

Maresca also pointed to Chelsea's persistent injury and suspension problems, noting they had been missing key forward Cole Palmer for much of the campaign, in addition to being deprived of linchpin Moises Caicedo to a three-match ban and striker Liam Delap to two serious injuries.

"I truly praise the players and the squad because we played 16 Premier League games, five of them without Moises Caicedo, eleven of them without Cole Palmer, almost all of them without Liam Delap," he explained.

"And this squad, regardless of who is playing, they are performing fantastic. Today was 5 games in 12 days so undoubtedly when you see Cole Palmer available, we said many times that he's our finest player but we play the vast majority of the season without our best player.

"We play 5 games in the Premier League minus Moises Caicedo. This is the reason why I'm so pleased for the players and it's something that I would want people outside to appreciate because the effort from the players is remarkable."

Chelsea's win over Everton consolidated their position in fourth in the Premier League standings, with a Carabao Cup last-eight clash at Cardiff and a league journey to Newcastle to come in the coming days.

Speculation Over Maresca's Comments

It was not immediately clear what exactly caused Maresca to label the past 48 hours as the worst of his spell as Chelsea manager.

In that period, the coach had returned with his staff and players from his native Italy, conducted a training session at the training ground, faced a pre-match news conference where he appeared relaxed, and engineered a win over an in-form Everton team.

It was not obvious whether any specific media reports had irked him, if social media discourse were a factor, or if it was something more significant from within the club at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca specifically took care to rule out that it was an matter involving the club's supporters, some of whom have not yet fully warm to him since his appointment from Leicester during July last year.