Enzo Maresca doesn’t see Chelsea as champions: “We can’t compete with City or Arsenal”

The ‘Blues’ coach addressed the situations of the three clubs and placed himself on a lower level than his rivals

Enzo Maresca believes Chelsea are not ready to compete with Manchester City and Arsenal for the Premier League title , despite their good start to the season (they are fourth in the table and have the best attack in the league): «I don’t think we can compete with City or Arsenal . I really think that, because we are not ready. The reason is that City have been working with the same coach for nine years and Arsenal for five years. If we want to compete for big things, we need that time.»

“After Arsenal beat PSG [in the Champions League on Tuesday] they asked Luis Enrique and he said the same thing, that ‘ Arsenal have had the same coach for five years and we [PSG] for a year and a half’. Imagine us, three months… so it’s a huge difference. So I’m really convinced that we can’t compete with those clubs. The goal is to improve and slowly get closer to those clubs, but at the moment we’re not ready for that,” he said.

Asked how long it will take to reach the level of City and Arsenal , the Italian manager added: “There is no deadline because we can keep improving and adding solutions to things. But in the end, the longer you are together, the better it will be because you can get to know each other. You can improve. That’s what matters.”

Chelsea , which features Portuguese players João Félix , Pedro Neto and Renato Veiga , have won their last four games in all competitions. In the Premier League , the London team has 13 points, two less than leaders Liverpool . In the next round, they host Nottingham Forest, led by Nuno Espírito Santo and Jota Silva .