It's nearly the midway mark of the season and Chelsea are in second place in the Premier League standings.
The Blues have surprised many by becoming league title contenders in Enzo Maresca's first year as manager, but the Chelsea boss has often played coy when asked about the title race.
Maresca has downplayed his club's chances of competing for the title at the end of the season, instead referring to Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal as the true contenders for the league crown.
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It's seen as a calculated move on Maresca's part, as he aims to keep the pressure off his players despite the club's ascendency.
Dwight Yorke, who won three Premier League titles during his playing days with Manchester United and now manages his native Trinidad and Tobago, agrees with Maresca's approach and believes it will continue for as long as the Chelsea manager can keep it up.
"I think Enzo Maresca will say the same thing to the players," Yorke told sportslens.com. "Why does he need to change what he’s saying? Why does he need to out extra pressure on the situation? Chelsea are winning games; they just need to keep doing what they’re doing. The message would be take it game-by-game and keeping winning as much as you can.
"Maresca doesn’t need to say that his team is in the title race. He'd be stupid to say that because, at the end of the day, the players are seeing the results for themselves. Let's just play dumb. 'We're not in it. We're second in the league. We’re close,' that’s it.
"He doesn’t need to ask the players about it. He just needs to keep everything ticking over. Let's see how they end up this season."
