Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has insisted the Blues are not yet ready to compete for the Premier League title, despite their convincing 3-0 victory over Aston Villa, softfootball reports.
The win continued Chelsea’s impressive progress under the Italian coach, lifting them level on points with Arsenal and strengthening their position in the race for the top four.
While many fans have begun to view Chelsea as potential title contenders, Maresca believes his young squad still has plenty to learn before they can challenge established rivals like Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City.
According to the former Leicester City boss, his players must first gain more experience and continue developing before they can realistically compete for the league crown.
“We are not ready to compete with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City for many reasons,” Maresca said after the match.
“Just because we won, I’m not going to change my idea. We’re not ready for that. The good thing is we are improving and hopefully very soon we can be there.
“We still need to improve many things. We can attack better and defend better.”
Chelsea delivered one of their most complete performances of the campaign against Aston Villa.
Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring after excellent work from Marc Cucurella, who won possession high up the pitch before delivering the decisive cross.
Enzo Fernandez doubled the lead with a brilliant outside-of-the-boot finish after combining neatly with Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer.
Palmer then capped another outstanding display with a stunning curled effort into the top corner in the closing stages, sealing an emphatic victory that further underlined Chelsea’s encouraging progress under Maresca, even if their manager believes the title conversation is still premature.
