Enzo Maresca:
“For the fans and for us, I said in the week that we were working to make the fans happy, and today they can be happy.”
Enzo Maresca on Marc Cucurella:
“He said to me after the game that he was trying to bring emotion to the game!”
Enzo Maresca on Marc Cucurella:
“No, being serious, to come this stadium against this team and be 2-0 down, but continue then with the same plan on and off the ball and then second half we changed things tactically. I think overall we deserved to win.”
Enzo Maresca on Romeo Lavia:
“He had a hamstring problem but now he is okay. We don’t want to take risks in December. Sometimes it’s better to make changes after 45 minutes rather than lose a player for five or six games.”
Enzo Maresca on half-time changes:
“First of all we had a problem with Romeo Lavia. That meant Malo Gusto came on and we moved Moi [Caicedo] and changed the attacking midfielder. The changes were good.”
Enzo Maresca on Marc Cucurella’s boots:
“It’s more a question for Marc. They are mature enough to decide what boots they need for the game. The most important thing is that we were 2-0 but we continued the same way to create chances.”
Enzo Maresca: “The plan or the idea is to not let the players slow down. They cannot drop because they know another player is waiting to come in.”
Enzo Maresca: “Arsenal, City and Liverpool probably don’t slide – like Marc Cucurella did. To be serious, we are not ready, we are far from these teams, but we focus on day-by-day and trying to improve the team.”
Enzo Maresca:
“He is learning, improving and scoring goals. That makes him happy and makes us happy.”
Enzo Maresca on Cole Palmer:
“I know Cole from a long time ago and I always trust him in every aspect. He is a fantastic guy. He is learning how to play games when he is marked man-to-man, [Yves] Bissouma was with him all the game.”
Enzo Maresca:
“The first 10 or 15 minutes we conceded two easy goals but overall we were in control of the game. The reaction of the players was mentally strong both on and off the ball.”
Enzo Maresca:
“We used to change players game by game but today the players were all very good. Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho were great on and off the ball.”
Enzo Maresca on what caused Marc Cucurella to slip:
“That’s a question for him. I don’t know. It can happen. Unfortunately, it happened twice to the same player, but it can happen.”
Enzo Maresca: “The second penalty, it’s cold. It’s cold.”
Enzo Maresca: “Because Cole [Palmer] belongs with that sort of players, they are not normal players, they are top players. Top players do things normal players don’t. He is top. We can expect this from Cole.”
Q: Is Cole Palmer the best player in the Premier League?
Enzo Maresca: “For us, for sure, but the Premier League is full of top players and top talent. Cole belongs with those players. Lovely, humble, no strange things and this is the best thing for young players.”
Enzo Maresca:
“Since we started, the reason why Jadon [Sancho] came here is because we think he is going to help us. Unfortunately he had small problems so he was out for a while. He cannot drop, otherwise he is not going to play.”
Enzo Maresca:
“After the game, my message to the players is to be focused in the day by day, our sessions, the next game on Thursday and then Sunday. The main focus has to be to enjoy the day off and when we come back, 100%, train well, go for the game.”
