We were unable to hear from Enzo Maresca following his joyous reaction to Estevao Willian’s winner against Liverpool. But ahead of our trip to Nottingham Forest, the Blues head coach reflected on that special moment at Stamford Bridge and discussed our next challenge.
After Estevao slid in at the back post to guide home Marc Cucurella’s cross in the 95th minute, Maresca charged down the touchline to join the jubilant celebrations in front of the Matthew Harding Stand.
Leaving his technical area earned the Blues head coach a second yellow card, meaning he was unable to undertake his post-match media duties. His assistant, Willy Caballero, stepped up in his absence.
An international break followed, so today was the first chance to hear from Maresca on that goal, the reaction to it, and the ramifications of his dismissal.
‘It was a big moment for many reasons,’ said Maresca. ‘The first is that since I joined the club, we had never won a game at home in the last minute.
‘The other reason is that we were playing the champions of England. It was an important moment, for sure. For me personally, it was just a reaction, a moment of passion.
‘Last season, I was banned for one game for yellow cards – the last one was against Fulham away when we won in the last minute. It’s part of our job, the moment, the reaction, the passion, and it’s nice for everyone, the fans, the stadium, so it’s just a reaction.’
Maresca will not be on the touchline at Forest tomorrow as he serves his one-match ban, but the Italian will no doubt still have a say on the changes we make during the contest.
And against a side that has conceded more than half of their goals this season after the 70th minute, they could be more important than ever. Maresca explained whether those statistics come into his thinking when choosing his starting XI, or if they are simply made in the moment.
‘In terms of making changes, it’s something that sometimes you plan, but it also depends how the game is going as to whether you do more changes or less,’ he said.
‘Especially now with the amount of games we have, we have to think about changes not only during the game, but with the starting XI.
‘When we analyse a team, we try to consider everything. Also, you have to go match by match and try to understand why they concede a goal and at which moment. So it’s always different.’