Enzo Maresca hits Mykhaylo Mudryk with backhanded compliment after Chelsea masterclass

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca delivered a brutal put down to Mykhaylo Mudryk after watching the winger end his goal drought against Panathinaikos. The Blues recorded a comfortable 4-1 victory in Greece as Mudryk scored one and set up another, capping arguably his best performance since his £88million transfer in January 2023.

But the 23-year-old was reminded of how far he still has to go to reach his potential, as Maresca issued what could only be described as a backhanded compliment after the game.

The Italian, who left Mudryk out of his 20-man squad for the defeat to Liverpool last Sunday, brought him back into the fold in Athens. He was quick to praise the youngster’s performance after scoring his first goal in European continention for the west London outfit.

His joy might have been short-lived, though, as Maresca hauled the Ukrainian back down to earth with a stinging comment.

“Very happy, not for me but for him. We as a staff, we spend a long, long time to help the players; not only Misha [Mudryk] but the whole squad,” Maresca said.

“Since we started, we are working with Misha and all the wingers to arrive in the box, into the position where Misha scored. He struggled to arrive there and now he is starting to arrive there. That is where we are going to score goals.

“It’s for him, it’s for Jadon [Sancho], it’s for Noni [Madueke], it’s for Pedro [Neto] – all of the wingers. They need to be in position because the ball is going to arrive in that position.

“We want the best for Misha. Since day one, we are trying to help Misha. Probably for him, he is one of the guys that the learning process is more slow compared to the rest but he is improving.

“I’m sure that slowly, slowly we will have Misha scoring more goals and being important for us.”

Mudryk was not the only fringe player to perform as Maresca changed the entire starting XI for the game in Greece. Joao Felix bagged two goals for himself to send a message to his manager, while Christopher Nkunku notched his fourth goal in Europe this season.

The Italian boss was satisfied with his team’s performance but challenged them to continue improving after praising their work in possession.

“It was a very good performance. I think we struggled a little bit at the beginning of the game, and we adjusted,” Maresca added. “We struggled off the ball with our pressing, I think on the ball we were quite good – and then we made some adjustment and were much better.

“The most important thing, I always said, no matter how many players we change, you can see the identity of the team. We can do things better. The identity is quite clear, the way we play on the ball and the way we play off the ball.”