Enzo Maresca has welcomed public backing from Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein over his future as head coach and insists he does have the ambition to succeed this season.
Maresca, 45, has come under pressure over the last two months after picking up just nine points from as many games. That run has seen the club drop from second to sixth in the Premier League.
During an interview with Bloomberg TV this week, Goldstein stated that Maresca is doing “a great job” and will be “100 per cent” staying in charge for the rest of the season.
At a news conference on Friday, Maresca said: “It is nice (to hear) and I really appreciate the relationship with the club since we started. They have always supported me, whether in the better moment in terms of results and in the worse moment in terms of results like we are having now. (The backing has come from) the sporting directors, the owners, all the club to be honest.”
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Maresca has come under criticism from fans for suggesting when the team’s form was good earlier in the campaign that Chelsea are not ready to win the title. And then more recently, for saying that the club told him he was not expected to qualify for the Champions League until next season.
But Maresca has clarified his stance and is adamant his words in the past over what he wants to achieve this season should not be misconstrued.
He added: “I have been clear from day one: I am not here to survive, I am here to win games and to fight for titles. I said this many times.
“The problem is when you win games you look humble and when you lose games it looks like you lack ambition.
“Since day one when I joined this club, my intention has been to win games, win titles and bring this club to where they deserve to be.
“I am 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. The only thing that has changed is we are dealing with many injuries and this affects the level of the team a little bit.”
(Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
