Maresca makes brutally honest admission about Chelsea’s Champions League hopes | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca conceded that Chelsea will not be able to achieve their target of qualifying for the Champions League this season unless Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson start scoring again.

Jackson has not scored for Chelsea since 15 December, though that also included a two-month spell out with injury from which he has recently returned.

Palmer, meanwhile, has not found the back of the net in his last ten league games for the club.

Chelsea are currently sixth in the Premier League and a point behind Manchester City who occupy the final Champions League qualification spot.

And asked whether his side can achieve their target this season without Jackson and Palmer scoring, Maresca simply replied: “No.”

The Chelsea boss did, however, back the duo to find the back of the net again soon.

“I’m confident because they have scored goals,” he said. “They just need to turn that moment.

“But I said before, Cole scored 14 goals in 20 Premier League games. He scores goals. Nico was the same before the injury.

“Now, unfortunately, Nico was out for two months so probably physically he needs a little bit more and it’s the same for Cole.”

Palmer started the season in flying form and Maresca says he will soon return to his usual ways.

“This is the first moment for Cole where he’s struggling a little bit in general,” he explained.

“The only thing is he has to do because he’s so good is continue working hard.

“For sure, very soon he is going to start scoring goals for us. To score 14 goals in 20 games is a huge number, a fantastic number, now it’s a moment for him where he struggles but he has to continue because for sure he is going to score goals very soon.

“I think there are different reasons why. For sure, a moment where you struggle is part of a career, the process every season. Last year, he had a fantastic season. This season, we said many times, the way other teams approach him is different. Most of the time he’s marked man to man, that is more difficult for any player in the world.

“But even with that, he scored 14 goals in the first 20 games. For me, it’s just a matter of a bad moment and in that moment that he’s able to score a goal it will probably change again.”