Enzo Maresca has reasserted his belief that Chelsea do not have a disciplinary problem.
There were another five yellow cards dished out to Chelsea players by referee Stuart Atwell in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, which Maresca had to watch from the back of the press box as he served his second touchline ban of the season following an accumulation of too many yellow cards of his own.
On top of that, Chelsea have twice been handed FA fines this season for accumulating too many bookings within a single game. A £25,000 fine came after September’s defeat to Manchester United and a £50,000 fine followed their 2-2 draw at Newcastle before Christmas. They were one yellow away from a third fine, worth £75,000, against Villa.
Chelsea have also received a number of red cards this season, with Maresca, Joao Pedro, Trevoh Chalobah, Robert Sanchez, Moises Caicedo, Liam Delap and Malo Gusto all given their marching orders in the first half of the campaign.
But Maresca continues to insist that Chelsea do not have an issue with ill discipline.
“Again, we need to analyse every yellow card,” Maresca said. “But I didn't have the feeling [against Villa] that there was a disciplinary problem.”
Fifth-place Chelsea, who host Bournemouth on Tuesday, are ten points off Villa in third and are enduring a difficult period, but Maresca insists qualifying for the Champions League remains their aim for the season.
“Yes, in this moment it’s the target,” he said. “I think [Saturday’s] game doesn't reflect the ten points difference between us and Villa, to be honest.
“So we need to be confident and we need to think that hopefully we can go close again to the ones that are ahead of us.”
Asked how important it is that Chelsea end 2025 on a high when they host Bournemouth, Maresca answered: “Absolutely very important. It becomes very important to finish the year in the best way.
“It will be another tough game because they are all the same, but we need to win games as soon as possible.”
