Enzo Maresca Makes Worrying Admission Over Chelsea’s Form Slump

The Blues gave up another lead in their recent defeat to Aston Villa.

Enzo Maresca has a real issue to address. / James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

Enzo Maresca has confessed Chelsea’s pattern of giving up leads is “not random,” but admitted he was at a loss to explain the concerning trait.

Saturday’s 2–1 defeat to Aston Villa was the fourth home game this season in which Chelsea have given up a winning position and was among the most frustrating results so far, given the Blues dominated the first half and should have been out of sight against one of the most in-form teams in Europe.

Fans have offered up a number of possible explanations. Maresca’s substitutions have been questioned, while the Italian himself has pointed to the lack of experience in his young squad. Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Bournemouth, he confessed a solution must be found as soon as possible.

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“I don’t know [whether experience would help], it’s just a matter to understand the reason why, because I don't think it’s random,” Maresca said in a press conference held immediately after the Aston Villa defeat. “When something continues to happen, it’s not random.

“So we need to understand why, no matter if we are winning, drawing or losing, we concede a goal, we lose a little bit of control. So we need to understand the reason why.”

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Champions League Now the Target for Chelsea

Chelsea collapsed against Aston Villa. / David Watts/MI News/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Defeat to Villa saw Chelsea drop down to fifth in the Premier League table. While that is likely to be good enough to earn Champions League qualification at the end of the season, it is a perilous position given the extent of the competition behind them.

Chelsea have 29 points to their name and are ahead of Manchester United only on goal difference. The Blues are just three points above Fulham in 10th, while 16th-placed Leeds United have chalked up 20 points so far. Clearly, the margin for error is slim.

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It is a seismic slump from a side who were being celebrated after a 1–1 draw with Arsenal in late November which had some dreaming of a title charge. The Blues now sit 13 points behind Mikel Arteta’s league leaders.

“In this moment [Champions League qualification] is the target,” Maresca conceded.

“I think tonight’s game [against Villa] doesn’t reflect the 10 points difference between us and Villa, to be honest. So we need to be confident and we need to think that hopefully we can go close again to the ones that are ahead of us.”

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