Enzo Maresca believes Chelsea will be the team to dominate English football in the next five to 10 years.
Chelsea go to Southampton tomorrow night in third place in the Premier League, level with Arsenal but nine points adrift of champions Liverpool.
Maresca, who joined the Blues in the summer from Leicester, believes it is too early in their development for Chelsea to sustain a title challenge between now and May, but says the squad’s makeup means they will be the team to beat will win. the next decade.
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He said: “I’ve said that being in the title race is good pressure for me and the players. It’s not the kind of pressure you don’t like. It’s the kind of pressure you like because you’re in the title race.
“But that’s not our case (this season). Hopefully we’ll be there soon.”
He added: “The good thing is that I still think about what I said to the owners and the sporting director when I first met them.
“Because of the age and because of how good the team is, for me, Chelsea – in the next five to 10 years – will be one of the teams or the team that will dominate English football.
“That’s what I told the club the first time I met them, regardless of who the manager is going to be.
“They didn’t ask me for goals. all they asked of me is to try to become, for the next few years, something important. I think we’re (going) in the right direction.”
We are ahead of expectations – Maresca
Maresca inherited chaos at Stamford Bridge with a bloated squad and off-field issues surrounding the club’s ownership. The Italian has worked wonders for Chelsea ahead of schedule and has been impressing both domestically and in European competition.
“In terms of expectations, we are ahead of my expectations, in the way we play and, certainly, in terms of results,” he said.
“We started four or five months ago. it’s been a long, long, long, long, long time together. But the best feeling I have is that there are a lot of things we can do better and (we’re) going in the right direction.”
Southampton will have no problems
On paper, a trip to rock Southampton should be a routine assignment, but Maresca described the game as Chelsea’s “toughest of the season so far”.
He said: “We have to be ready or it will be a bad day for us and the reason is because if you analyze the results, they are there, but in terms of performance, they beat Liverpool, they lost 1-0 against (Manchester) City, they brought a draw in the last game against Brighton.
“The way they play from last year – when I was in the Championship – I know them quite well. They are very brave and it is very clear what they want. they want to keep the ball and so do we.
“It’s going to be a tough, tough game.”
No Fofana at St Mary’s
Centre-half Wesley Fofana will miss the trip to the south coast after limping off in Sunday’s win over Aston Villa.
Maresca was unable to give more news, but admitted that the Frenchman would be out for some time.
“We don’t have any update at the moment, until two days ago, so we have to wait a bit and hopefully we can get more news in the next few days,” he said.
“But, for sure, he will be out for the next few weeks.
“Benoit (Badiasile) could be one of the solutions, but we have different players who can play there.
“Sure, it’s a big loss because Wes has been fantastic every game, but we have to accept it and find a solution.”
