Enzo Maresca told critics to ‘F off’ in bizarre scenes following Chelsea’s huge 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on the final day of the Premier League.
While not at their best, Chelsea did enough to get the three points at the City ground on Sunday, with Levi Colwill scoring the winner just after half-time.
The result means the Blues have qualified for next-season’s Champions League at the expense of Forest and Aston Villa who lost 2-0 at Manchester United.
It’s a good achievement for Maresca in his first campaign at the club and he can make it even better by winning the Conference League final against Real Betis on Wednesday night.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, the head coach was naturally delighted but also chose to hit out at those who doubted his young side could do it.
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‘I didn’t have any doubt about the players. The doubt was from outside,’ the Italian told reporters.
‘All the ones that have the answers or the ones that have the truth, they were saying that we are too young, we are not good enough, they were waiting for Aston Villa to drop points for us to achieve the Champions League.
‘They were saying that we were not able to win on this pitch because we are too young, because we are not experienced. Unfortunately for them, they have all been wrong. All the ones that have the truth and have the answer to everything.
‘So in English, how you say? F off to all of them, because the players deserve that. The effort they have been doing is fantastic.
‘I feel part of their improvement, the way they grew through the season, and I feel especially proud for that because they are a fantastic group, a fantastic squad. They are good boys, they work hard, they try to help each other.
Final Premier League table 2024/25
- Liverpool – 84pts
- Arsenal – 74pts
- Man City – 71pts
- Chelsea – 69pts
- Newcastle – 66pts
- Aston Villa – 66pts
- Nottingham Forest – 65pts
‘And I said, probably most of the time, it was from outside, that we were not good enough, we were too young, we don’t have a leader, blah, blah, blah, these kind of things. But at the end, it all comes from results.’
Maresca’s comments were echoed by Chelsea captain Reece James, minus the language, who told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘It is an amazing feeling.
‘We had to dig in. We both needed to win, but I am so happy that the team got the job done today. We talk about being the best team-mate and everybody showed that today.
‘So many people before the season, during the season had disbelief – they told us “we were you young, inexperienced and were not going to make it”. But we are here.
‘The season has been long and tough. We started off so well, but then we had a dip. Going into another final and we have our eyes on the prize.’
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