Maresca praises 'top performance' from key player

“Once again he put in a top performance,’ said Maresca,”

“He played for one hour as a midfielder and then the last half-an-hour as a full-back in his position. He is doing a fantastic job, not only for the goal, in general, so we are happy for him.”

Most people thought Chelsea were terrible in the first half, but Maresca insisted he had seen some things he likes.

“Even if we were 2-0 down and the performance was not good, from the bench I could see that the plan we prepared was the right one,” the manager said.

“Last week we won against Everton, during the week we achieved a semi-final, a draw away at Newcastle is an important result.

“But it’s always a chance to learn. Today there are many things we can learn from the first half, but also I am happy with the reaction of the players.”

In other news…

The draw with Newcastle came after the Blues turned around a dreadful first half and scored twice in the second. Most fans thought the Blues were shocking in the first half – but Enzo Maresca insisted he had seen some things he liked.

All anyone wants to talk to Enzo Maresca about at the moment are his comments last weekend. He must regret that outburst so much now. Today he flatly denied he was in a “complicated” situation after the comments.