Maresca sends clear message to Chelsea fans amid recent criticism: ‘I am here to fight for titles’ | OneFootball

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca vowed he will challenge for titles at the club and issued a defiant response following recent criticism from fans.

The Blues’ recent run of form has seen them slip from second to sixth in the Premier League table, prompting criticism from supporters towards Maresca and the club’s hierarchy.

Former player John Obi Mikel has been among the vocal critics, questioning some of Maresca’s comments such as insisting Chelsea could not win the title when they were sitting second in the league.

But Maresca has defended himself and insists he does not lack ambition.

“I’ve always been clear since day one,” Maresca said. “I’m not here, and I said this already a few times, to survive.

“I’m here to win games. I’m here to bring this club to fight for titles and I said this already many times.

“The problem is that when you win games, you look humble, and when you don’t win games you look like you have a lack of ambition.

“Since day one when I joined this club, my intention is to win games, to win titles and to bring this club where it deserves to be.

“I said this since day one and if you review all my press conferences, I always repeat the same.

“The problem is, like I said, when you win you look humble and when you don’t win you look like you have a lack of ambition.

“I’m ambitious, the club is ambitious. We have the same manager, same players, same sporting directors, same owners, as two months ago when we were second in the league.

“Nothing changed. The only thing that changed is that we are unfortunately dealing with many injuries and this affects, a little bit, the level of the team.

“I really appreciate the relationship with the club since we started, in a better moment in terms of results than now.

“They always support me, the sporting directors, the owners, all the club.”

Maresca also urged the supporters to stick with his team as they look to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to Brighton when they face Aston Villa on Saturday.

He said: “All I can say is that every time the fans have been behind us, we really appreciate it because we are sure that with the fans behind us, we can achieve soon, our target.

“We have 13 games to go until the end, seven of them at home, and I think that winning the seven at home can be enough to finish top four.

“It’s a motivation for them, it’s a motivation for all of us, and it’s something that after, inside the changing room, we mention many times. Especially after the games we played at home.

“When you can hear the fans pushing us, it’s a nice feeling.”