8 hours ago
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Jamie Carragher has confessed that he enjoyed the joyous celebration of Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca following their victory over Liverpool. The ex-England defender criticised the rule that prevented the Italian from addressing the media after their thrilling 2-1 triumph.
Estevao emerged at the far post to secure three points for the Blues, after Cody Gakpo had levelled the score, nullifying Moises Caicedo's exceptional opening goal. This strike dealt a third consecutive loss, across all competitions, to the Premier League champions, denying them the chance to reclaim the top spot in the league.
Following the Brazilian's goal, Maresca sprinted down the touchline to partake in the celebrations, enthusiastically embracing his players after virtually guaranteeing a morale-boosting victory.
However, the former Leicester City boss was dismissed by referee Anthony Taylor after receiving an earlier yellow card. This ruling meant that Maresca was barred from conducting post-match press duties, a decision that drew criticism from Carragher.
"From Chelsea's point of view, it's a fantastic result for them, the biggest under Enzo Maresca in his tenure, certainly at Stamford Bridge," he said.
"In terms of a togetherness with the club, it's a brilliant result for them.
"That was a victory that does a lot for the club in terms of the manager.
"I loved the manager's celebration, I loved him running down the line, I can't believe he can't come out and speak to us, that's ridiculous, you want to hear from him.
"For me, his biggest result, that will build a connection with the supporters, I said a lot last year, I think he's a really good coach, every time they come up against Liverpool they had a plan.
"At times there wasn't that connection with the supporters and that was maybe waning in the last couple of weeks because of what happened in the summer was fantastic but some poor results, celebrating like that, a win like that against the champions builds a real bond."
The Football Association's touchline conduct guidelines, introduced in 2023, stipulate that any manager or head coach dismissed from the technical area cannot fulfil their standard post-match media obligations.
Maresca's deputy Willy Caballero stepped in to handle press duties in his place.
"It's something special for any manager, no manager can hold inside what they feel," he explained.
"Unfortunately for him he was already on a yellow.
"We are all human beings. We have been players, we love to see that. For sure all of us we can learn from that as well."
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