Chelsea fell to a disappointing defeat at home against Legia Warsaw on Thursday, and the Legia boss believes the lack of home support worked against the Blues.
Legia head coach Goncalo Feio has said that Chelsea fans are not fully behind Enzo Maresca and the team.
Legia Warsaw beat Chelsea 2-1 on Thursday in the second leg of their Conference League quarter-final tie, although the Blues ultimately qualified for the semi-finals 4-2 on aggregate.
After the game, the Legia manager revealed that his team were able to beat the Blues because they did not have enough support in the stadium from the fans. Maresca has faced criticism after blaming fans for the draw against Ipswich, saying that the “environment” at Stamford Bridge affected his players’ performance. Heading into Thursday’s fixture, he tried to address the comments in his press conference and assuage the anger of fans, before calling on them to trust the work he is doing with the team.
Interestingly, Legia’s head coach Feio admitted that he had observed that the Chelsea team’s performances in their recent Premier League games have increasingly alienated fans, and knew this would help cancel out some of Chelsea’s home advantage on Thursday night.
“We knew at the moment [Stamford Bridge] is not the loudest stadium and the last league games haven’t helped with this,” said Feio. “We knew we would feel the presence of our fans.”
“I am proud of the team, we wanted to change our performance after the last game. I knew we could do better than that. However, you need to have belief and put it into practice.
“The team showed great character and personality, even against such an opponent who hasn’t lost until now.”
Chelsea face Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday, a ground where the Blues are used to winning. Enzo Maresca will be hoping that his team’s performance there and then at home against Everton next weekend can help get the fans back on their side.
