Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has blamed tired for his side’s recent poor form after losing 2-0 to Ipswich on Monday night.
Defeat at Portman Road ensured Chelsea end 2024 with back-to-back losses having fallen to Fulham on Boxing Day.
This is the third consecutive game that Maresca’s side have failed to win, their worst run of the entire campaign.
When asked about the test he now faces after a difficult last three matches, the Italian believes this blip in form was always going to happen at some point.
“We expected this kind of moment during the season because we know that this kind of moment belongs to the football,” Maresca said. “It is almost impossible to have a season where you do not have a moment like now for us.
“But in the same time, not one of us in this room expected us to be where we are now. This means and shows that we are in the right direction, as I’ve said many times, but also shows that we are far from competing and consistency and to be there with the best teams in England.
“Again, I think we have to be satisfied where we are but at the same time, we have to know we need to do many things better.
“I like to analyse game by game. I think tonight, when you create so many chances, you can probably do something better defensively but offensively, it’s not many things to say. The Fulham game, I don’t think we played in the way we like to play; it was more up and down and that is not our football.
“Everton is a difficult game for everyone. We tried to win the game. Probably, also, December I think we played nine games. We started with the first five or six winning all the games but then we struggle a little bit finishing [the month].
“We probably also arrive at the end of the month feeling a little bit tired in general. We have finished the first part of the season, we are going to start the second part. We are happy with where we are but we know we can do many things better.”
