Maresca fires shots at exiled Sterling and Disasi, with duo training separately after missing out on exits.
Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi, two Chelsea players who are exiled, have been advised by Enzo Maresca to attempt working through the night as fishermen, just like his father, if they wish to comprehend true adversity.
After failing to get transfers away throughout the summer, the club has put Sterling and Disasi in a two-man bomb squad. Due to their inability to utilise the first-team facilities, they have had to train on a different field, change in a different locker room, and eat in a different location.
The Professional Footballers’ Association intervened after Sterling disclosed on Instagram at the beginning of the week that he was training at 8 p.m., which is obviously not ideal for a father of four young children. In an effort to provide a more flexible timetable for Sterling and Disasi, the charity has collaborated with Chelsea to include lunchtime practices with the under-21 team.
Maresca, who said he knew from his playing days what it was like to be out of favour at a club, did not appear to have much sympathy. “My father is 75 years old and for 50 years he has been a fisherman, working from two o’clock in the morning to 10 o’clock in the morning,” Maresca said. “This is sad in life – not a player and the way that they work.
“I’ve been in Raheem’s situation and Axel’s situation as a player and for sure I know that it’s not the best feeling for a player because you want to train and play and then, for a different reason, the situation is the situation. I know that the club is giving them the opportunity to work in the right way and this is the only thing I can say.
“It’s not just Chelsea, it’s any club in the world, I can promise you. Italy, Spain, England, France, USA, Brazil, any club in the world … when, for any reason, the player and the club doesn’t find any solution and you give the player all the tools to do training sessions and do everything. But if you are not involved in the squad, you are not involved in the squad.”