Enzo Maresca wants Chelsea to ‘exploit’ vulnerable Tottenham on Sunday, but the Blues boss has told his players to avoid being as naughty in this seething showdown as he was in the Turin Derby of February 2002.
On Friday Maresca discussed the classic 2-2 draw in which he scored an 89th-minute equaliser for Juventus at the home of their rivals Torino. The Italian sparked chaotic scenes as he performed a bull-horn celebration while rampaging around the pitch, in reference to the symbol on their opponents’ badge.
It was a moment which went down in Italian football history, though while Maresca wants Chelsea to take advantage of Ange Postecoglou’s struggles, he called on his players to show more discipline than he managed all those years ago.
‘We try always to exploit,’ Maresca said of taking on a patched-up Spurs, who used Ben Davies in central defence in their 1-0 loss to Bournemouth on Thursday. ‘I think (Cristian) Romero can be back, so probably Romero can be the solution for them in this moment, but we will see. We prepare for the game thinking it will be big. It is a derby, it is Tottenham.’
On his Juventus leveller all those years ago, he said: ‘That was a long time ago. That moment was the last moment of the derby. It was a good game, a warm game. Every player lives the game, the moment, in different ways. I don’t know if they need these kind of things, but they are aware that it is an important game. I don’t know if they need something extra.
‘Today, in football, I know we have many English players but most of them probably come from abroad, they are not even aware about the derby and these kind of things. The only thing is that we try to make sure that every game they are focused and give everything. We don’t change the way we want to be aggressive depending on the other team.
‘Hopefully we can give our fans a big day, a victory in that. We prepare for the game thinking it will be big. Because first of all it is a derby, it is Tottenham. But at the end, three points against Southampton, three points against Aston Villa, three points against Tottenham, the points are the same.'
Maresca added that Moises Caicedo can continue his fine form at Tottenham, saying the Chelsea midfielder has earned the right to be compared to Rodri and Declan Rice. ‘He is for sure now at that level,’ Maresca said.
‘No doubt. Unfortunately, Rodri is injured but Declan is playing. But Moises can sit at that table with that kind of midfielder.’
Maresca is also confident they can do damage as he insisted they should no longer be seen as 'Cole Palmer FC'.