“If he had come out and said that…” – Maresca’s press conference attitude slammed by pundits

The London is Blue podcast’s Monday shows have been as positive as you like like this season after a great start to the campaign.

But after a few bad results on the spin and a frustrating press conference from Enzo Maresca where he said we had “done enough to win” and “created enough chances”, the pundits there took issue with the manager’s refusal to take responsibility for the fact his team were not doing enough to break down defensive teams in the last few weeks.

“We had one shot on target. What are you talking about ‘creating chances?’ I’m frustrated because from what I saw, especially earlier in the season, he seems like a no bullshit kind of guy,” Nick Verlaney pointed out.

“But in the last few press conferences, all I’ve seen is a version of bullshit. What I would have preferred today is if he had simply come out and said ‘we simply were not good enough to win this game. And I gotta figure out a different way to approach these low blocks and what we are doing. And that is what I’m going to spend this rest week trying to figure out how to do’. If he had come out and said that, I think a lot of Chelsea fans would have said ‘yeah, fair play.’ At least you’re accepting the responsibility on the chin. This is 2 points out of a possible 12.”

You can see their discussion in the clip embedded here:

Maresca has credit in the bank – why not use it?

We totally agree. Maresca has a lot of credit in the bank after his strong start, both with fans and players. This is a great chance to be honest and call out some bad performances.

He’s not a coach who has to spin positive all the time – he’s safe in his job and doing well. There’s no need to be hyper critical, but he can certainly communicate to fans that he knows this isn’t good enough.