Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - December 8, 2024 Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca looks on REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/ File Photo
(Reuters) - Ipswich Town put a dent in Chelsea's Premier League title hopes with a 2-0 win at Portman Road on Monday, but the west London side's head coach Enzo Maresca said no one expected his young team to be in their current position this season.
Chelsea were stunned by the promoted side after Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson scored either side of the break, which dropped Maresca's side down to fourth place, 10 points behind leaders Liverpool who have a game in hand.
Having finished sixth in the last campaign and 12th in the 2022-23 season, Chelsea hired Maresca in June after he guided Leicester City to the English Championship title in his first season in charge.
"Not one of us in this room expected us to be where we are now," Maresca told reporters. "This means and shows that we are in the right direction, as I've said many times, but also shows that we are far from competing (with) consistency and to be there with the best teams in England.
"I think we (have) to be satisfied with where we are, but at the same time we need to know we (can) do things better."
Maresca has consistently played down his expensively assembled squad's title chances, despite some impressive victories this season.
Chelsea have now collected just one point from their last three league outings. But the Italian said recent results were unavoidable.
"We expected this kind of moment during the season because we know that this kind of moment belongs to football. It is almost impossible to have a season where you do not have a moment like now for us," he said.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Nicholas Yong)
