Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca withdrew from his postmatch press conference after Tuesday’s 2–2 draw with Bournemouth, asking assistant Willy Caballero to attend after falling unwell.
Maresca was on the touchline throughout the disappointing draw and found himself the target of frustrated boos from a number of fans inside Stamford Bridge as the Blues conceded twice from long throws to continue their patchy run of form.
Aside from the result, Maresca’s decision to withdraw talisman Cole Palmer around the hour mark attracted a chorus of disappointment from the stands.
Supporters hoped to hear Maresca’s defence of his tactics but were instead met with the sight of Caballero sitting down in front of the press after the final whistle.
“He didn’t feel well the last two days,” Caballero said of Maresca. “He had a temperature two days ago, he did do the last two sessions because he wanted to prepare the team for this game.
“But after the game, he went to the changing room and he asked me to replace him because he didn’t feel well. That’s the only thing I can tell you.”
Caballero added: “He’s dealing well because he’s very professional. He invests a lot of hours every single day, even though the last two days he was feeling bad. He is an example for me and for all of the staff.”
Caballero Defends Palmer Substitution
Maresca had recently argued that Palmer was fit enough to play 90 minutes after overcoming a lengthy groin injury, but he has been substituted in both of his subsequent outings. Palmer managed 72 minutes against Aston Villa and 63 against Bournemouth.
As he left the field against Villa, Palmer was clearly unhappy with his withdrawal. This time around, however, he did not show any public frustrations as he quickly left the pitch and applauded the fans, who targeted Maresca with a chant of, “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Of course, any supporter wants to have their best players on the pitch and we want to have the best players on the pitch as well,” Caballero reflected.
“But Cole is coming from a long injury so in this case, we need to find the right substitutions to go for the game and also to take care of the health of our players, because we want to have them for the long period and for the rest of the season in every single game.”
The positive aspect for Chelsea fans is that Palmer does not appear to have aggravated his injury and should be free to start the team’s next outing against Manchester City on Jan. 4. His involvement in that game is particularly important now the Blues have lost Moisés Caicedo to suspension.
“We are very frustrated because it was the first foul of the game and it was close to us,” said Caballero in response to Caicedo’s costly yellow card, picked up for a trip on Adrien Truffert after just four minutes.
“We looked at the foul more than once and it doesn’t look like a yellow. But it’s done now so we’re going to miss a very important player. We will need to start to think who will be the player that replaces Moi and, of course it’s a big loss, but it’s the same as when we miss Cole, when we miss Liam [Delap], when we miss any player, because all of them are very important for us.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Enzo Maresca Pulled Out of Chelsea Press Conference After Fan Taunts.
