The feeling surrounding Chelsea is doom and gloom at the moment, not helped by their most recent Premier League outing against Ipswich Town.
It took a second-half fightback to deny their relegation-threatened opponents all three points at Stamford Bridge following their dire start to the game.
The feeling inside the stadium was beginning to get toxic on Sunday, with fans gaving plenty of stick to Enzo Maresca off the back of what they were watching.
The manager clearly didn’t take too kindly to the atmosphere that was being created. Maresca blamed the environment inside the stadium as one of the reasons his side struggled.
This may have been true in the past, but going two goals behind at home to a side the level of Ipswich was largely seen as unacceptable.
Richard Keys stunned after what he has heard from Chelsea training ground
There is the belief from some that Chelsea took the game too easily, given they had returned to winning ways in Europe and recently picked up a big win over Tottenham.
Richard Keys claimed on his blog that he has heard from someone close to the club that the feeling was they were convinced they would win before even taking to the pitch.
He said: “I’m more of the view that Chelsea are still flaky. The current group are Spursy. I know someone who was at the training ground Friday and he said he could sniff Sunday’s performance. Everything was wrong. And that’s how it played out.
“There’s no doubt Chelsea have a talented group. The problem is it doesn’t seem to matter enough to them. And Maresca doesn’t appear to know how to ‘whip’ them.”
The Blues have the chance to restore some form with the second leg of the Conference League quarter-final against Legia Warsaw, a tie in which they are already 3-0 up in on aggregate.
Richard Keys calls out Enzo Maresca
Keys believes that Maresca is prioritising the European competition at this stage of the season, with it looking better for potential future employers than the fight for the Champions League places.
He said: “Madness. Absolute madness. If he doesn’t want out he’s got some making up to do now. Winning the Conference League might not be enough to get Chelsea fans back onside, although adding a success like that to his cv would suit him.
“I’ve got mates who are Chelsea fans and they’re convinced Maresca wants that more than a top 5 finish – because he won’t be around next season.”
The Blues have been heavy favourites since the season began to lift the Conference League trophy, and are almost certainly already through to the semi-finals of that competition.
It was originally claimed to be the target of Maresca to finish in the top four this season, however that stance has softened now five Premier League sides can qualify for the Champions League.
