Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca has said he is not getting carried away with his young side’s strong run of form, adding that their 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday does nothing to change his view that they are not contenders for the Premier League title this season.
Chelsea overwhelmed Villa from start to finish as Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernández and Cole Palmer all scored fine goals that put them level on 25 points with second-placed Arsenal.
Maresca said his side were still behind Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in terms of experience of big matches and the pressure of title campaigns.
“This kind of players, some of them, in their life, in their experience, they have played probably one final,” Maresca said, recalling how Chelsea last season reached the League Cup final at Wembley.
“So you need to live moments to get better and when we start to get those moments, we will get better and we can compete,” he said. “We are going to be there soon, but this is one of the reasons that we are still far and not ready to compete with those clubs.”
For the Stamford Bridge faithful, Chelsea’s progress so far under Maresca, in his first season in charge, has been hugely encouraging after two years spent largely marooned in mid-table.
Jackson’s goal was his eighth in 13 Premier League games this campaign. Palmer also took his tally to eight and claimed his customary assist when he set up Fernandez, who with Moisés Caicedo was dominant in midfield as Villa appeared fatigued after a 0-0 midweek Champions League draw against Juventus.
Pedro Neto was a constant danger on the wing while Chelsea’s defence and goalkeeper Robert Sánchez delivered the Blues’ first home clean sheet in the league this season.
“[In] today’s game it was very difficult to find one of them that was not good. I think we were all good and this is important,” Maresca said.
There was some bad news for Chelsea, however — central defender Wesley Fofana limped off after an hour and Maresca said he could be missing for the busy Christmas period with a hamstring injury.
“It’s a big loss for us because he is doing fantastic,” he said.
His Aston Villa counterpart Unai Emery paid tribute to the turnaround at Stamford Bridge under Maresca.
“Chelsea today showed … This year is different,” Emery said. “They are feeling stronger. They don’t have doubts like last year, for example. Their power and their capacity as well is higher.”
Emery said he would focus on trying to restore Villa’s sense of confidence after they failed to win for an eighth match in a row in all competitions, starting with Wednesday’s home game against Brentford.
He said the extent of the injury suffered by goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, which forced him off at half-time against Chelsea, was not yet clear.
