Mariska: Some players will leave, and the losses prove my words

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca appeared in a press conference to talk about facing Crystal Palace, in the twentieth round of the English Premier League, on Saturday evening.

The coach said: “He returned. Reece James and Romeo Lavia are very close to returning, and he has started working with us. As for the rest, there are no developments. Fofana may be out of action until the end of the season. Yes, we do not know specifically, but he may be out of action for part of the season Season.

He added, “Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is still out, Wesley Fofana will be out for a very long time, and Benoit Badiashelli will be out until at least February.” There are only two big updates regarding Wes and Benoit, they will be gone for a very long time.”

He added: “We have been here together since the beginning and every time you ask me about Wesley Fofana I say many times - I'm in love with Wes, and I'm in love with Wes too because he's the type of defender who gives you a chance to press and be aggressive one-on-one on the pitch. It's hard to find that kind of player...so yeah, Wes is a big loss."

And about Whether the team's mood has been affected by recent results: “No, we don't like to lose games or drop points, but it won't affect our journey because we all realize that during the season you will lose games. We finish the first part of the season, and now we start the second part and we think we will win and lose.” But it is important to improve one match after another.”

He continued: “This is a journey that began five or six months ago, not five or six years. Other teams started five or six years ago.” Or six years and now it is struggling to win the league Premier League - We just started five or six months ago, you don't just need good players to win the title, the challenge is not just [to be good] in the future, you need to add more things, the things we are adding are like coming together and becoming a team. In difficult moments. This is the difference between us and Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. They are more prepared as a team than us, and we hope to be there soon.”

And he explained: “I did not need to wait until I lost matches to understand that we are not in a title race. I always said why I would tell you we're there because it's nice, and it's not a bad thing to be in a title race, but the reason I said that is because I didn't think we were ready, I didn't need to wait until I lost two games in a row to prove to myself or to you that I was ready. Right.”

On the importance of fourth place and not falling to Crystal Palace: “Not only this weekend, but in the next 19 matches, it is important that we be there. I don't think any of us in this room expect us to be where we are at the start of the season. This means that the team is performing very well.”

He noted: “Now the second part of the season is ahead of us and we have to continue doing what we are doing. "We might be third again, or second again, but we might also be fifth or sixth in the table - [it's important] not to panic, it's just about seeing where we will be at the end of the season."

On whether Romeo Lavia's absence has made a difference to the recent drop in form: “No, I think football is about the players. “We've won games without Romeo, but we're definitely better with him. Not only him, but we are a much better team with Reese James. It's all about the players.”

He concluded: “Some players will probably leave in January, and Ben Chilwell may be one of the players who may leave.”