When it comes to getting Chelsea fans on side, they want to hear fighting talk. They want to hear about Chelsea standards of winning and competing. They want to hear that we are rising up again and here to challenge on all fronts.
We have so far been hearing none of this from Maresca and from many of the fans I speak to on a daily basis, this had become one of the biggest problems.
Of course, it is always better to let your football do the talking. But as a manager you have to do public interviews so when you are forced to talk, it is much better to to lay out your intentions in a positive way rather than preach for patience and say we are going to need time or are not good enough. Chelsea fans have been hearing that for three seasons now, and many believe that the time for action rather than future promises is long overdue.
Maresca has done an interview for the Chelsea website this week, and I am going to breeze over the negative and focus on the positive, because we have a massive game on Thursday night so we need to get the mood right ahead of it.
Maresca claimed:”Personally, I am convinced we’re a better team than two months ago.”
“The reason why is that you need to go through this kind of [difficult] moment. With the amount of injuries we had, my duty was to try to find solutions and we tried to move players, change positions, and try to find different solutions.
“We are there [in the top four] – and we have been there all season – so it’s our duty to try to finish there. And as I’ve said, this club belongs in the Champions League so we have to do everything in our hands possible to bring the club there.”
We are categorically NOT better than we were two months ago. I’m sorry, but nobody is buying that, it’s simply not true.
But like I said, I am focusing on the positive for this article ahead of a big game, so let’s draw on that more.
Maresca delivered the fighting talk:
“I know when you are Chelsea head coach you have to win games, no matter if [the team is] young or old. You have to win games.
“Since I joined this club, I have been convinced this squad is good enough to compete and win games and I don’t have any doubts that game after game, month after month, and season after season, we will be better and better and better, and we can close that gap that is between us and one or two more Premier League clubs.”
This is it. No fake claims. No deluded promises. Nothing that is not achievable. Everything that fans want to hear. When you are Chelsea head coach you HAVE to win games, it’s as simple as that regardless of anything else. He knows it, he is saying it, and for that I fully applaud him.
What a manager says in public alone is not going to get ALL fans on side, but when you are saying things like this it will certainly help your cause rather than hinder it.
This is also what the players want to hear, not that they aren’t good enough yet and are too young to get success. They need to feel belief not doubts.
Maresca with a new tone in his beard and a new tone in public comments. Let’s move.
Now let’s take this fighting talk into the next game against Spurs!
