A MATCH OF little significance for Chelsea all of a sudden falls in a seismic week for the Premier League giants.
In particular, their €100 million (€121m) winger Mykhailo Mudryk who was this week provisionally suspended and faces a considerable ban after a positive drugs test.
That is no doubt why there was a packed media room for head coach Enzo Maresca’s pre-match duties ahead of tomorrow’s Uefa Conference League clash with Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge.
Almost 20 journalists were present. The fallout from Mudryk’s test dominated proceedings.
The Italian spoke about how the club would support the player, emotionally and mentally, and that they believed he was innocent.
“We trust Mydra (Mudryk) and support him. What Mydra says, we trust,” Maresca said.
The player took to his own social media already to express shock at his positive result. The feeling was the same around the Cobham training centre, with defender Tosin Adarabioyo explaining how the Ukraine international is “part of the family” and will be looked after.
“His teammates were all surprised. At the same time sad because we don’t like these kind of things,” Maresca added.
“I was waiting for this question,” he said with a grin.
“I think football was clean in that time and is clean in this time,” Maresca said. “I don’t think there is a big difference between my time at Juventus and now. I think in that time it was clean and in this time it is clean. As I said before, these kinds of things happened in the past and they are going to happen in the future.”
The previous 14 minutes or so was dominated by constant back and forth about Mudryk but that was the standout moment.
Advertisement
Tosin Adarabioyo played with Jack Byrne at Manchester City. Paul Nealon / INPHO
Paul Nealon / INPHO / INPHO
Chelsea have five wins from five and scored 21 goals to top the league phase so it was no wonder that the few questions relating to this competition were more about whether they would win it rather than the visit of Rovers.
“We are going to try to approach always in the same way, try to do our best and win the game. I think football today there is no team with no strength, all the teams, they have something good, and some things that you can work on to win the game,” Maresca said of Stephen Bradley’s side.
He watched their recent draw with Rapid Vienna and win over Borac, but also the two legged Champions League qualifier with Sparta Prague from back in July.
“They are a good team, they try to defend as a block, and they have some good players in general. I am quite convinced all the games if they are difficult depends on us, if it is more easy or more difficult. But for sure we will try to win the game.”
Maresca has Chelsea primed for the most unlikely of Premier League title challenges and it’s a sign of the disarray at the west London club before his summer arrival that they share a stage with Rovers tomorrow.
In every other aspect they operate in completely different spheres of the football world.
Still, the nature of the game means tomorrow also reunites two good friends.
In a quirk of fate, Adarabioyo was the player nominated for media duties by the club. The 27-year-old came through the ranks at Manchester City when a certain Jack Byrne was also there under Patrick Vieira.
The pair could face off tomorrow and memories of Byrne brought a smile to the centre back, who also referenced Damien Duff’s Shelbourne and how they had taken the Premier Division title away from Rovers.
“Jack was an absolute character, a very lovely character and an amazing guy. I’m looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.
“It’s amazing, you separate at a certain age and at different times in your career and you just never know when you might see each other again. When me and Jack saw the draw, we knew it would be a great time to catch up.
“We became teammates from the age of 15. He was my No 6. We had a good partnership. He was the guy I used to give balls to and he was spraying diags (diagonals). I have great memories of Jack.”
Tomorrow brings a new one in their story, even if it’s a week dominated by more concerning headlines.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'I think football was clean in that time and is clean in this time'
A MATCH OF little significance for Chelsea all of a sudden falls in a seismic week for the Premier League giants.
In particular, their €100 million (€121m) winger Mykhailo Mudryk who was this week provisionally suspended and faces a considerable ban after a positive drugs test.
That is no doubt why there was a packed media room for head coach Enzo Maresca’s pre-match duties ahead of tomorrow’s Uefa Conference League clash with Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge.
Almost 20 journalists were present. The fallout from Mudryk’s test dominated proceedings.
The Italian spoke about how the club would support the player, emotionally and mentally, and that they believed he was innocent.
“We trust Mydra (Mudryk) and support him. What Mydra says, we trust,” Maresca said.
The player took to his own social media already to express shock at his positive result. The feeling was the same around the Cobham training centre, with defender Tosin Adarabioyo explaining how the Ukraine international is “part of the family” and will be looked after.
“His teammates were all surprised. At the same time sad because we don’t like these kind of things,” Maresca added.
As a player, the Chelsea boss joined Juventus in 2000 amid the doping scandal that rocked the Italian giants.
“I was waiting for this question,” he said with a grin.
“I think football was clean in that time and is clean in this time,” Maresca said. “I don’t think there is a big difference between my time at Juventus and now. I think in that time it was clean and in this time it is clean. As I said before, these kinds of things happened in the past and they are going to happen in the future.”
The previous 14 minutes or so was dominated by constant back and forth about Mudryk but that was the standout moment.
Chelsea have five wins from five and scored 21 goals to top the league phase so it was no wonder that the few questions relating to this competition were more about whether they would win it rather than the visit of Rovers.
“We are going to try to approach always in the same way, try to do our best and win the game. I think football today there is no team with no strength, all the teams, they have something good, and some things that you can work on to win the game,” Maresca said of Stephen Bradley’s side.
He watched their recent draw with Rapid Vienna and win over Borac, but also the two legged Champions League qualifier with Sparta Prague from back in July.
“They are a good team, they try to defend as a block, and they have some good players in general. I am quite convinced all the games if they are difficult depends on us, if it is more easy or more difficult. But for sure we will try to win the game.”
Maresca has Chelsea primed for the most unlikely of Premier League title challenges and it’s a sign of the disarray at the west London club before his summer arrival that they share a stage with Rovers tomorrow.
In every other aspect they operate in completely different spheres of the football world.
Still, the nature of the game means tomorrow also reunites two good friends.
In a quirk of fate, Adarabioyo was the player nominated for media duties by the club. The 27-year-old came through the ranks at Manchester City when a certain Jack Byrne was also there under Patrick Vieira.
The pair could face off tomorrow and memories of Byrne brought a smile to the centre back, who also referenced Damien Duff’s Shelbourne and how they had taken the Premier Division title away from Rovers.
“Jack was an absolute character, a very lovely character and an amazing guy. I’m looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.
“It’s amazing, you separate at a certain age and at different times in your career and you just never know when you might see each other again. When me and Jack saw the draw, we knew it would be a great time to catch up.
“We became teammates from the age of 15. He was my No 6. We had a good partnership. He was the guy I used to give balls to and he was spraying diags (diagonals). I have great memories of Jack.”
Tomorrow brings a new one in their story, even if it’s a week dominated by more concerning headlines.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Bridge Over Troubled Water Chelsea Shamrock Rovers Soccer Uefa conference league