Chelsea are one of the teams in the EPL who are very serious but the manager doesn't have the balls to admit it and I believe he has made the player to accept it that they're not in any way qualified to be title contenders. Is a shameful thing to say that a club you're managing are not yet in the title race even when you see how awesome you team have been doing even better than the current Champions and the league leaders. I think Enzo Maresca learnt a lesson from the other coaches who got fired, he noticed that the Chelsea club and the fans have this kind of pressure they inflict on every new manager to always take them to the top even when they know is not immediately it had to happen. Enzo is not really using mind game per say but he is avoiding being pressured and he also wants the players to play without pressure and he feels it will help them do well.
I understand why you are sad with Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca for saying they are not likely to win title. But I think he is smart and trying to take pressure off players. By not making big promises Maresca is creating more relaxed atmosphere where team can focus on playing well without feeling too much stress. This might actually help them do better in long run as they will be able to play more freely and focus on one game at a time. Also Maresca might have learned from what happened to previous Chelsea managers who faced a lot of pressure and criticism.
I understand why he has been using that statement "we're not title contenders", the fear of making mistakes is what he has been avoiding and I'd blame the English media too for putting more pressure on coaches and players, is as if they are comfortable to see a manager fail especially when he's not from England. But it doesn't change the fact that the fans knows what's happening and where Chelsea is headed, no matter how hard Enzo tries to keep it on a low key he will definitely face a little bit of pressure (he might hide it). Some of the players are not even fit to be in that squad and I'll say this that this is the best I have seen from Chelsea in a long while but a better number 9 need to fill in that empty space.