Enzo Maresca believes Chelsea are ahead of schedule in his bid to bring some stability to Stamford Bridge.
The club appeared to be lacking a long-term strategy following the surprise departure of head coach Mauricio Pochettino at the end of last season and another summer of seemingly scattergun dealings in the transfer market.
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But under Maresca, things appear to be trending in the right direction and Saturday’s 3-0 win at West Ham saw them climb to fifth in the Premier League.
Next up for the Blues is tomorrow night’s EFL Cup third-round clash with League Two table-toppers Barrow at Stamford Bridge.
Maresca said: “We are ahead of where we expected to be today. Not in terms of results but how the team is progressing in terms of how they are playing.
“In terms of results, we are far from these clubs [at the top of the Premier League table] like [Manchester] City and Arsenal. I have said many, many times that we have to improve.
“The important thing in this moment is that we are heading in the right direction.”
Five consecutive #PL away wins for the first time since December 2021. 🙌#CFC | #WHUCHE pic.twitter.com/d3UgzZvKBL
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 23, 2024
Chilwell to return for Barrow clash
A home game with the Cumbrian minnows is unlikely to pose too many problems for Chelsea who will rotate their squad with the likes of Malo Gusto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall set to start. There will also be places in the squad for forgotten England left-back Ben Chilwell and youngsters Tyrique George and Josh Acheampong.
“It is a good chance to give some other players minutes, like we did in the Conference League,” said Maresca. “Hopefully it is a good chance for them.”
Dewsbury-Hall came on as a late substitute at the London Stadium at the weekend and Maresca is pleased with how he has adapted to life at Chelsea after the pair worked together at Leicester last season.
“I’m very happy with Kiernan and we need to understand that Kiernan was the main player at Leicester and he is not now, because we have many other talented midfield players,” he said.
‘For him, you need to adapt mentally. That period requires time to understand that and adapt, maybe playing only a small amount of minutes in games, but I am completely happy with Kiernan and the way he is performing.’
