Enzo Maresca demands more positivity from Chelsea players after loss at Brighton | OneFootball

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca called for his players to be “more positive” as he played down concerns about the body language of star man Cole Palmer following a heavy defeat by Brighton.

Top scorer Palmer cut a frustrated figure during Friday’s resounding 3-0 Premier League loss at the Amex Stadium, which dented the Blues’ quest for Champions League qualification.

Having been touted as potential title contenders in December amid a five-match winning run, the west London club now face a serious battle to finish in the top four after taking just nine points from the subsequent nine games.

In front of watching England manager Thomas Tuchel, Palmer, who has contributed 14 top-flight goals and six assists this term, sliced wide with an early opportunity and struggled to make an impact on a miserable evening when the visitors failed to register an attempt on target.

The 22-year-old went straight down the tunnel at full-time before being asked to return to the pitch to acknowledge the disgruntled travelling fans by a member of Chelsea’s coaching team.

“Football is a team game, it’s not tennis; it’s not only Cole Palmer who is frustrated,” said Maresca.

“In one way it can show the desire of Cole to improve things. But it’s not just about Cole, it’s about all the players.

“It’s a little bit like the fans, when you don’t win a game it’s normal that they are not happy and when we win games everyone is happy and the players are exactly the same.

“When we don’t win, they feel frustrated. We need all of them in this moment to be more positive because this is a moment where we need to stick together and try to finish in the best way.”

Six days on from slipping to a 2-1 FA Cup fourth-round defeat in Sussex, the Blues suffered a repeat result following Kaoru Mitoma’s superb opener and a brace from Yankuba Minteh.

Away supporters chanted “we want our Chelsea back” during a display Maresca branded the worst of his tenure, having sung “we’ve got our Chelsea back” just under two months ago.

To compound matters, the Italian is waiting to discover the extent of the hamstring issue which forced winger Noni Madueke off inside 21 minutes.

“For sure, we feel upset and we feel very sorry for our fans,” said Maresca, whose side travel to top-four rivals Aston Villa next weekend.

“In this moment you cannot offer this kind of performance with 13 games to go.”

Brighton bounced back from a 7-0 thrashing at Nottingham Forest in their last top-flight outing to halt a five-match winless run at home in the league.

After a sublime first touch paved the way for Mitoma to deliver the 27th-minute breakthrough, Minteh took his tally to five for the season with goals either side of the break.

Seagulls head coach Fabian Hurzeler wants to help 20-year-old Gambia winger Minteh, a £30million summer signing from Newcastle following a loan spell at Dutch club Feyenoord last season, become a consistent threat.

“It’s important that we give him the environment, the atmosphere where he can improve,” said Hurzeler.

“He’s new in the league, he’s facing a new challenge and therefore we shouldn’t underestimate that he’s still a very young player.

“We try to help him every day but the most important is that he helps himself. He has an intrinsic motivation to improve every day and that’s the main thing.

“Now it’s about giving him game time, game time, game time because this is the way young players improve.

“I was happy with him because it was the right reaction from his individual development and now it’s about showing it consistently.”