In Round 2 of the UEFA Champions League Group Stage, Chelsea will face Benfica at home. Ahead of the match, Blues' head coach Enzo Maresca attended a press conference and answered questions from the media. The following is the second half of this press conference.
What message are you conveying to the players right now? Are the remaining players on the pitch full of enthusiasm and respect? How do you motivate them?
At this moment, I think first and foremost, we need to stay positive—because that’s what the players need. Secondly, I personally don’t see any reason to be negative. The club showed me the stats: we’ve lost five games in the past six months, and four of those featured red cards.
So of course we want to win, but the reality is there’s no extra pressure. The only pressure is the kind that Chelsea players or coaches should naturally feel—to win. But at the same time, due to injuries and red cards, we’ve lost five games in nearly six months. Even so, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Can you talk about Benfica, your upcoming opponent, from a tactical perspective?
I think from both Benfica’s and Chelsea’s standpoint, you can expect their current formation to be either 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. But you can also anticipate that they might switch to a five-man defensive formation. I’m expecting two or three different setups, and we have plans in place for those scenarios. Throughout his coaching career, he (Mourinho) has shown he can master different formations, so we’ll be prepared for various possibilities.
How do you guide the players to avoid red cards?
First of all, I definitely think that after reviewing the last two games—where we played with 10 men against Manchester United and Brighton—I could have made better decisions. But for me, this is a learning process, because playing with 10 men isn’t normal for any coach. Unfortunately, we’ve had that happen twice. We’ve lost five games in six months, and four of those losses came when we had a player sent off (against Newcastle, Flamengo, Manchester United, and Brighton). The only loss with a full squad was the away game against Bayern. So I don’t think there’s any need to panic; football itself is a crazy world. If you lose five games in six months and still have to defend yourself, that’s a crazy world. I don’t think a defense is needed right now, because I feel really good about the current squad.
I believe we’ve all made progress compared to last season. The players have gained more game experience, and I personally feel better as a coach than I did last year—because I’m learning. Of course, there’s still a lot to learn; for example, we might need to handle playing with 10 men better. But this is part of the process, and I’m confident we’ll get better and better in the future.
Have you told the players how to reach Champions League-level performance?
We need to perform at a high level—there’s no doubt about that. The players are young, but they already have Champions League experience. Take Hato, who came from Ajax—he already has Champions League experience. I personally think he’ll become a top player for Chelsea. Young players like Garnacho or Gittens are also gaining experience in this competition. João Pedro might not have played in the Champions League before, but he helped us win the FIFA Club World Cup after joining. They’re all talented players, and they’ll definitely help the club and the team. As they play more games, they’ll only get better.
What’s your relationship like with the fans? We heard there was some dissatisfaction after Saturday’s game.
I think the fans’ reactions are mostly about results. I completely understand that—it’s normal for fans to be unhappy after a loss. But I’m unhappy, the players are unhappy, and the club is unhappy too. As I said last year, they once sang “Our Chelsea is back,” and then when we went through a bad patch, they were unhappy. So to me, this is more of a reaction to the game results.
Did Mourinho lay the foundation for Chelsea’s success?
All I can say about Chelsea is what I just mentioned. Personally, he’s a legend at this club. For me, he’s also a legend at Inter Milan—when we won the Champions League there. He’s a legend at different clubs around the world, and that shows how good he is, as well as what he achieved at Chelsea. As for what he deserves, honestly, that’s not something I’m here to think about. I think he’s already proven how important he is as a coach.
