Despite winning just once on the road in the Premier League since Christmas – and scoring just five goals – Chelsea overcame their away-day blues to beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the City Ground on Sunday.
The result secured a Champions League place for the first time since Thomas Tuchel guided them to third in 2022 – and prompted a bullish response from Maresca.
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“I didn’t have any doubts about the players. The doubt was from outside,” said the head coach, who was taking charge of his first top-flight campaign.
“All the ones that have the answer and the truth, they were saying we were too young, we were not good enough.
“They were waiting for [Aston] Villa to drop points if we wanted to achieve Champions League.
“They were saying we were not able to win on this pitch because we were too young and not experienced.
“Unfortunately for them they are all wrong, all the ones who have the truth and the answer for everything. So in English, I will say ‘eff off’ to all of them.”
After three seasons in charge, Chelsea have returned to Europe’s top table for the first time under the current owners, and Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali were on the pitch to celebrate with the staff and players at full-time.
Maresca pointed out he achieved what Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and Mauricio Pochettino were unable to do during their time in charge, saying: “Twelfth two seasons ago, sixth last season, fourth this season, with probably the youngest squad in the history of the Premier League.”
He added: “[Manchester] City lost here, Arsenal drew here, Liverpool drew here. Chelsea won. It’s not easy. The players showed how good they are.
“Unfortunately, we are in a business where the people – you – judge us because of the results. Today if we were not able to win the game probably all of you would judge this season as a disaster.”
Maresca added that, despite criticism of his tactics and comments from supporters and the media this season, that his position was never in doubt.
“I am very happy for many reasons. The players deserve, since day one they have been working very hard. With the club, the supporters, the owners, the sporting directors, the players – we all go in the same direction.
“The noise was more from outside than from inside.”
Maresca delivered – but what comes next will define success or failure
Analysis from Sky Sports’ Laura Hunter:
Chelsea’s final-day victory – which confirmed Champions League qualification – was the first time Enzo Maresca’s side have won and kept a clean sheet away from home since September. A mad statistic that sums up a bit of a muddled campaign.
On the day, pretty much everything conspired to serve Chelsea. Levi Colwill scored a scrappy goal. Chris Wood missed a pair of sitters, and as frustration around the City Ground grew, Maresca’s youngsters bound together to keep their cool.
The average age of Chelsea’s starting XI in the league this season was 24 years and 36 days – the youngest ever. At times it has really showed. Maresca is a first-time Premier League manager attempting to guide a group devoid of leaders and figureheads. And yet, after a two-year absence, Chelsea are back at Europe’s top table.
Maresca has got his work cut out to get this squad to resemble something close to coherent. But the lure of Champions League football will help to attract the right calibre of help this summer. It feels like a significant and necessary building block in the restoration of a club that used to challenge for top honours year after year.
The real question remains: Where can they go from here?
