Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has played down suggestions his side are genuine title contenders, despite sitting just two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Chelsea continued their strong form with a 2-1 win over Brentford at Stamford Bridge, moving to 34 points on the season, but Maresca remains cautious about the scale of his squad’s ambitions right now.
Softfootball reports that the Italian was blunt in his assessment after the match. He said:
No matter how many games we are going to win, I think we are not ready to compete for the title.
One of the reasons why is because I think teams know how to compete for titles. They are not going to concede the goal we conceded.
Maresca pointed specifically to a late lapse in concentration as evidence his squad still has work to do before genuinely challenging at the top. He added:
I’ve told you many times I would love the pressure to compete for titles but we are not ready for many reasons.
