Enzo Maresca says he is 'in love' with one Chelsea player after comfortable West Ham win

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca says he is ‘in love’ with one particular player after a huge performance from his men on Saturday afternoon. The Blues made easy work of West Ham away from home, winning 3-0 thanks to a Nicolas Jackson double and a Cole Palmer strike just after the break.

It was Chelsea’s best performance of the season so far, and it takes them into the top six, with performances having improved significantly over recent outings. With the Blues winning so comfortably at London Stadium, it was difficult to pick out star performers beyond Jackson, who was unstoppable in the first half, also going on to provide an assist in the second.

But Chelsea’s defensive work can’t be underestimated, given they kept a clean sheet pretty comfortably, something they struggled to do on a consistent basis last season. The absence of Wesley Fofana for the most part did not help, with the centre-back missing the first half of the season through a serious knee injury and struggling to get back to his best.

But he is already firing on all cylinders this season, with Maresca singling him out for credit after the West Ham win. “Wes is a player that I really love,” said the Chelsea boss. “I am in love with Wes! He is doing fantastic after one year injured and, for any player in the world, when you are out for one year and then you come back it is not easy, and he is doing top. This is the only thing we want from him.”

Injury latest

Maresca also provided the latest on the injury concerns that arose from the West Ham clash, with Axel Disasi sparking concern following his withdrawal “It’s nothing serious,” Maresca said.

“The reason why we changed him was because we try to protect him a little bit and also he was on a yellow card. In the second half they changed [Mohammed] Kudus to his side and probably it was a big risk to keep him, but there is not any injury.”