After the draw to Ipswich Town, Enzo Maresca had some pointed words about the fan support or lack thereof at Stamford Bridge. He didn’t outright blame the fans for the disappointing result but he did blame the “environment” at the Bridge for how the players reacted to the first goal they conceded.
Maresca said of the attitude of the players after the goal, via his post match comments:
"“I think we lost a little bit of confidence because we conceded, probably because of the environment and this is the moment that you have to continue doing the right things and not change plan. We are a team which, most of the time, takes our goal kicks short. The second goal we decided to play long because of the environment, and then we conceded the second one.”"Maresca on fan support
His comments were not the most inflammatory but they are downright incendiary given the general state of Chelsea fans these days. Fans are upset at ownership for a number of reasons including what they feel is a downgrade in expectations at the club and the ticket “scandal” involving Todd Boehly.
As for Maresca, they are upset with him because of the poor results against big clubs, the poor form away from home, and the “boring” style he has employed at Chelsea. This style feels like the antithesis of what Chelsea has been about since the Jose Mourinho days where it was more about counterattacks and pace versus possession.
That style argument is for a different day as this article is more about Maresca having a point about the “poor” fan support at Stamford Bridge. Without giving him too much credit we do believe that there is truth to what he is saying.
This is a young team that is still learning how to win and they don’t deserve the toxic environment that is being created by the match-going fans where they direct their anger at the owners towards the players on the field. For the most part we can say that they are giving their best effort and sometimes that just isn’t good enough, but booing them or not encouraging them is counterproductive.
There is a cyclical relationship between the fan support and the product on the field because players perform better when being cheered on and fans cheer louder when they have something positive to cheer about. You can say that these guys are professionals and they should perform no matter what but it’s human nature to up your game when you have tens of thousands of people rooting you on.
The issue here is that the messenger is not looked on favorably by the fans but the message is valid. If it was Cole Palmer or Enzo Fernandez giving this message then it would be well received and maybe the fans would respond positively. Maybe ahead of the UECL match this week one of the players, perhaps captain Reece James, can call for more vociferous support and the players can respond in kind with another dominant performance.