Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has insisted his side cannot challenge for the Premier League title as Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City will not slip up like Mark Cucurella.
Chelsea’s enigmatic full-back was left face-planted twice inside the opening 11 minutes on Sunday. shocking conflict at Tottenham Stadium. Whenever Cucurella lost his footing, Spurs scored, first taking the lead through Dominic Solanke before Dejan Kulusevski doubled the hosts’ deserved advantage.
After the second goal, Cucurella ran to the touchline to remonstrate with him Chelsea bench, clapping his hands furiously as he changed his boots.
The Blues impressively he turned back to eventually win 4-3. That win moved Chelsea into second place above Arsenal, just four points behind Liverpool, while Manchester City are back in fourth. Despite this advantageous position and his team’s hot form, Maresca was not accepting any talk of the title. “Arsenal, City and Liverpool probably don’t slip up – like Cucurella did,” the Italian manager pointed out mischievously.
Another win for Chelsea… Just don’t tell them they’re title contenders! 🙉🤫 pic.twitter.com/xTeYuffoXg
— 90 Minutes (@90min_Football) December 8, 2024
“To be honest, we’re not ready,” Maresca continued. “We are far from those teams, but we focus on day by day and try to improve the team. The plan or the idea is not to let the players slow down. They can’t fall because they know another player is waiting to come to .”
The pessimistic Chelsea boss previously mentioned his team’s youthful inexperience as the key factor undermining their title aspirations.
On Sunday, Cucurella’s boots threatened to be the derailment for Chelsea. When asked about the Spaniard’s boot mistakes, Maresca shrugged: “That’s a question for him. I don’t know. It can happen. Unfortunately, it happened twice to the same player, but it can happen.”
Jadon Sancho halved TottenhamHe took an early two-goal lead in the first half, picking out the bottom corner after a pass from Cucurella’s new boots. After the match, the England winger joked: “They’re going to go in the bin after this game. After the mistakes, I thought he played fantastic. We believe in Cucu.”
Shortly after the final whistle, Cucurella posted an image on social media showing that those first-half boots had found their way into the bin.
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