Enzo Maresca tends not to get too up or too down after games, preferring to keep an even keel as much as possible even if that means playing down victories and sugar-coating defeats, focusing on the larger
picture, the underlying play, the emergent patterns. I suppose that’s a requirement of the job in a way; you can’t keep swinging wildly between extremes and you have to focus on things you can control.
But Chelsea did make it four wins in a row in all competitions with last night’s emphatic 5-1 win over Ajax Amsterdam in the Champions League. Our task was certainly made easier by the early red card for the visitors, but we didn’t stray from said task despite that good fortune, and the well rotated lineup that was far from first-choice took care of business, often in entertaining style.
Not much more you can ask for on a Wednesday night, with the team gaining momentum at a good time. It’s a long season, with plenty of ups and down to surely come, but things are going pretty well at the moment. If we can build on that, we can extend that moment into something impactful, even.
“We always say the same, but at the end it’s because it’s true. We go always game by game. I think tonight was good to win, to continue the momentum, but now in 48 hours we have one more game that is very demanding, Premier League game against Sunderland.
“I think it’s good for everyone, for the club, but it’s a win and personally it doesn’t mean too much in terms of the season. It’s just to continue to play games, to try to win, to try to improve players and this is the main thing. [We will] prepare the game with the same intention that we had since day one, that is try to win the game and then we’ll see.”
-Enzo Maresca; source: Football.London
One win by itself may not mean much, but every win matters and could make the difference at the end. Building momentum, building consistency is how you achieve the goals we need to achieve.
Next up: high-flying Sunderland, newly promoted yet level on points with us. They won’t make it as easy as Ajax just did.
