Enzo Fernandez says Enzo Maresca’s exit at Chelsea ‘hurt us a lot’ (TUDN)
Enzo Fernandez has slammed Chelsea’s hierarchy for allowing Enzo Maresca to leave Stamford Bridge and claims the Italian’s departure ‘hurt us a lot’.
Chelsea parted ways with Maresca on New Year’s Day, less than six months after he guided the team to victory at the Club World Cup in July.
In Maresca’s final weeks in charge, Chelsea had registered just one win in seven Premier League games and were 15 points behind leaders Arsenal.
That gap between Arsenal has now increased to 22 points under Liam Rosenior, while this month, Chelsea were hammered 8-2 on aggregate by Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League last-16 tie.
Maresca had clashed with Chelsea’s board over their failure to recruit a new central defender last summer following Levi Colwill’s ACL injury, while he accused senior figures behind the scenes of failing to support him after a 2-0 win against Everton in December.
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Speaking after Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to home to PSG in the Champions League on Tuesday night, Fernandez was asked in an interview Mexican broadcaster TUDN about the club’s decision to approve Maresca’s departure earlier this season.
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‘I don’t understand it either,’ Fernandez said.
‘Sometimes there are things that we as players don’t understand, how and in what way they try to manage things.
‘Obviously, it was a departure that hurt us a lot because we had an identity. He gave us an order, even though, as is the way of football, sometimes it’s good and bad.
‘But he always had a very clear identity when it came to training and playing, and obviously his departure hurt us a lot, especially in the middle of the season, it cuts everything short.’
In a separate interview ESPN Argentina, Fernandez also raised doubt over his long-term future at Chelsea.
Asked if he could guarantee that he will be a Chelsea player next season, Fernandez told ESPN Argentina: ‘I don’t know, I don’t know.
‘There are eight games left and the FA Cup. There’s the World Cup and then we’ll see.’
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