It’s been quite a week for Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca, after a rather trying year wherein he had to deal with plenty of pressure and expectation — mostly from the outside, in fairness — to perform at a level that, at the moment, is perhaps beyond this team, the youngest in Premier League history.
But on Sunday, he achieved the most important target for the season and he got to tell the haters to [FUN] off. And then on Wednesday, he got to lift his first major trophy as a manager, and his first European trophy since winning the UEFA Cup with Sevilla as a player in 2007. (Amusingly, since Sevilla are Real Betis’ major cross-town rivals, they made sure to say congratulations to their former hero on social media afterwards.)
As delighted as we all were at the final whistle, things weren’t looking so rosy just 45 minutes prior, after one of the least inspiring first halves of the entire season. Chelsea, on 48 hours less rest than our opponents, posed practically no threat and were quite lucky to be down by just one goal. We needed a response — physically, mentally, and tactically — and thankfully that’s precisely what we got, in all aspects.
And the rest, is history made once again.
“I expected a little bit [that there’d be some hangover from Sunday], but then I think second half, we were playing much better. We were more — the process was good — but also we were attacking in behind. First half, we just try to play without attacking in behind.”
“I‘m very proud, I’m very happy, for many reasons. For sure, personally, I feel good. But also because I know that the fans, they deserve that. They are waiting already for two, three years for good moment, so they deserve that. The club is invest lots of money in the last three, four years, so they are also waiting for results. And hopefully this can be a starting point and from tonight, from this season, building something important.”
-Enzo Maresca; source: TNT Sports via Reddit
So say we all.