Enzo Maresca informed Chelsea’s critics to “f-off” after beating Nottingham Forest on the Premier League’s last day to safe Champions League qualification.
Levi Colwill’s 51st-minute tap-in was sufficient to safe fourth place on a tense afternoon on the Metropolis Floor during which the house aspect resulted in seventh place and earned a Convention League spot.
Chelsea will now play in Europe’s top-tier membership competitors for the primary time because the 2022-23 marketing campaign regardless of utilizing the youngest common line-up in Premier League historical past — 24 years and 36 days — in the course of the season.
Maresca used the achievement to hit again at his detractors lamenting the membership’s reliance on youth, questioning their mentality and elegance of play.
“I did not have any doubt in regards to the gamers,” Maresca informed a post-match information convention. “The doubt was from exterior. All those which have the solutions or those which have the reality, they have been saying that we’re too younger, we’re not adequate, they we have been ready for Aston Villa to drop factors for us to realize the Champions League.
“They have been saying that we weren’t in a position to win on this pitch [at Forest] as a result of we’re too younger, as a result of we’re not skilled. Sadly for them, they’ve all been mistaken.
“All those which have the reality and have the reply to every part. So in English, the way you say? F-off to all of them, as a result of the gamers deserve that. The hassle they’ve been doing is improbable.”
Forest began the day with Champions League hopes of their very own however defeat meant they completed only a level exterior the highest 5. Subsequent season will mark their first European marketing campaign because the 1995-96 season.
“We did not obtain the dream,” Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo mentioned. “Our first half was actually good, we created many issues and had possibilities nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient. The nervousness within the final minutes did not assist us.
“We’re proud and we go once more. You already know that one aim can change every part. the advance of the gamers is large, the platform of the membership is sweet. In the event you ask me, it is a good season due to the dedication of the gamers.”
