We’re not embarrassed – Enzo Maresca defends Chelsea players over ref exchanges
Defender Marc Cucurella was involved in an incident with Bournemouth’s David Brooks last Tuesday.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca rejected suggestions his team should be embarrassed by attempts to influence referees and called out key decisions that have gone against his side.
Defender Marc Cucurella was involved in an incident with Bournemouth’s David Brooks during last Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in which the Cherries player narrowly avoided being dismissed.
Brooks appeared to pull Cucurella’s hair and sent the Spain international falling to the ground, albeit theatrically, the same offence for which Southampton’s Jack Stephens was sent off against the Blues earlier in the season.
Robert Jones was called pitchside to review the incident but chose not to issue a red card, the first time in the Premier League that a referee has rejected a red-card review.
Bournemouth fans taunted Cucurella, calling his reaction “embarrassing”, while there was a similar response to Pedro Neto when he apparently made the most of a clash with Fulham’s Alex Iwobi on Boxing Day.
“If you ask me, against Southampton, Cucurella was a red card,” said Maresca. “The other day (against Bournemouth) it was a red card. They can say anything they want. In the end we are not going to change anything.
“The last game, it’s a red card, there is nothing to say. It was just to stop Cucurella in a bad way. It’s the first time in the history of the Premier League that they are sent to a red-card review, and it’s a yellow card.
“We are not embarrassed. Someone has to be embarrassed about this kind of thing, not us.
“I love my players, all of them.”
Neto has been a mixed success since joining in the summer from Wolves, who Chelsea face at Stamford Bridge on Monday.
He has mostly competed with Noni Madueke for a place on the right wing and has been in and out of the side as Maresca has juggled his options.
With three goals in 24 games in all competitions he is yet to fully justify his £51million transfer fee. His outstanding contribution so far was a brilliant equalising goal in the 1-1 draw at home against Arsenal in November.
Defending the winger, Maresca said: “He’s doing fantastic. Probably in terms of goals and assists he can do better, but he’s playing almost every game, he has to compete with Noni, they’re both very good players.
“He scored against Arsenal, played a fantastic game against Tottenham (a 4-3 win), then got five yellow cards so missed the game against Brentford where Noni played fantastic.”
Madueke has made a more notable impact so far, scoring five times in the league and proving himself as a more consistent performer than the former Wolves player.
“It’s what we need, both players competing with each other,” said Maresca, who hinted the pair will likely continue to share game time. “They help us. If one plays from the start and the other plays 10 minutes, we want the same intensity from both.
“I try to explain to them that for one game the decision is this, but probably for the next one it’s the other way.”