“Disaster” – Maresca says 2025 off to a bad start, but admits there is good news for Monday | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca began his press conference today being asked how his January was going. He gave a one word reply – “disaster.”

He was only joking, but every joke contains a kernel of truth and there’s no doubt that’s the case here. Results have been bad (his team haven’t won a league game all month), half his squad are being linked with moves away, creating a lot of noise and distraction, he’s got a player facing a ban for doping and others who are unhappy with their playing time.

Things aren’t getting any easier this week either – there’s a new spate of injuries affecting some of his first team favourites. Just when he needs to dig deep and find a win to get back on track, the handicaps are stacking up.

Maresca on the positives of Chalobah recall

But it’s not all bad. Maresca has at least been able to strengthen his squad by recalling Trevoh Chalobah from Crystal Palace.

“I’m not sure but I think Trev trained with us until we flew to the USA. When we went to USA, he was here. I had a chat with Trev two days ago and this morning. He was doing well there and this is the reason why we call him back,” Maresca said when asked about the defender’s return.

As we pointed out, that’s one of the major advantages of a Chalobah recall. He knows the club better than anyone and can get up to speed and ready to play without needing much time. It sounds like we might need him too – Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile are already out, hence his recall, but the word from Maresca earlier in his presser was that Levi Colwill is also missing training this week.

All signs point to Chalobah being thrown right back into action on Monday night – not a moment too soon.