“In the next five to ten years, Chelsea will dominate English football”

Chelsea’s manager Enzo Marescareiterated on Tuesday that his team should not be considered a candidate to win the Premier League, despite being tied for second place with Arsenal, both nine points behind struggling Liverpool.

However, the Italian coach, at the press conference ahead of Wednesday’s game against bottom club Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium, Yes, he is optimistic about the longer term and admitted that Chelsea meet the conditions to dominate English football for years to come.

Maresca predicted

“The good thing is I still think about what I said to the owners and the sporting director the first time I met them,” said Maresca, who joined Chelsea in June. “Because of the age and how good the team is, for me Chelsea in the next five to ten years is one of the teams, or the team, that will dominate English football. This is what I told the club when I first met them . “It doesn’t matter who the coach is.”

Chelsea has in its ranks players like Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernández and Moises Caicedo, 23, and Cole Palmer, 22. In them he won seven of his 13 Premier League games and lost only: against champions Manchester City on the first day (0-2) and against leaders Liverpool at Anfield (2-1).

Maresca continues to think Chelsea can’t catch Liverpool and Arsenal and is clearly not doing it to take the pressure off his players. “They (Arsenal) have been there for the last two years, very close to City, and we are very far from City,” he said today when asked about it again.

“Being in the title race is a good pressure for me and for the players. It’s not the kind of pressure you don’t like. This is the kind of pressure you want because you’re in a title race. But that is not our case. I hope we can go there,” insisted Maresca.

While Chelsea visit bottom club Southampton, tomorrow Arsenal host Manchester United at the Emirates and Liverpool travel to Newcastle.