As I said I would do, when we knew who the new Chelsea manager was going to be, whoever that was, I would try and provide some positive insights and I will be backing them fully.
Whilst yes I still fully believe this is a HUGE risk and I have MASSIVE concerns about this appointment, I will support Enzo Maresca as Chelsea head coach, and there are certainly positives. I’m not just simply forcing this.
I will continue to voice any concerns I have, but ahead of a new season, I want to try and be as optimistic as I possibly can, even though its fearful and cautious optimism for now.
Maresca has a connection to one of the successful Italian managers to have managed Chelsea already, Claudio Ranieri.
Ranieri was one of the first people to call Maresca when he took the reigns at Leicester City last summer to congratulate and advise him. Players arrived back for Leicester’s pre-season campaign to see images on the walls of Leicester’s FA Cup and Community Shield victories in 2021. Maresca decided to put Ranieri’s achievements up on the walls!
He’s been hired due to his style of play, with Chelsea wanting to control games with possession-based football.
I do have some concerns over this with some fans, especially within Stamford Bridge. I do wonder how they will take to this style of play, remembering that many found Maurizio Sarri’s football ‘boring’ and there was even chants of ‘f**k Sarriball’ within the stadium at times.
All Maresca has to do though is win football matches (all he has to do is far from easy). Obviously we know we cannot win every game, but fans will be on his side if there is progress and improvements, regardless of the style of play.
A Manchester City-lite style of play is what Maresca has brought to Leicester during his year at the King Power.
That same patient play which ranks Guardiola’s side bottom of the Premier League for forward-pass proportion year after year was embedded almost overnight – in the Championship only Southampton’s percentage was lower than Leicester’s last season.
“Maresca is so embedded in that Guardiola style of play that he was always going to attract interest when he was able to make that style successful – and that’s what he’s done at Leicester,” Jordan Blackwell, Leicester correspondent at the Leicester Mercury, told Sky Sports.
“It felt like the club had thought outside the box to bring Maresca in, a man with a lot of tactical knowledge whose acumen has been raved about. That’s not only as Pep’s assistant but with Man City U21s and a first-team coach at West Ham.”
We know that Maresca will use inverted full-backs, and that is part of what made Leicester more dominant in games last season.
Ricardo Pereira operated in the middle of the pitch in Maresca’s season at Leicester.
But Maresca actually went one step further when it comes to his full-backs. If the Italian would rather invert a full-back from the left wing, then Pereira would simply swap flanks with his opposite defender, leaving opponents guessing as to Leicester’s shape.
Chelsea have Reece James and Marc Cucurella (if he’s not sold) as two good inverted full back options on either side, and they will also be able to switch in-game. I would be excited to see James in an inverted role, because I have always loved the idea of him playing as a defensive midfielder and feel he could thrive there.
This brings me to my first ‘need’ for Maresca, potentially another left back. Chelsea could sell one or both of Cucurella and Ben Chilwell this summer, and with how Maresca sets up, if it is just one going, you’d be inclined to think it could be Chilwell. The England international suits a back five better than a back three, and I am not sure he can be an inverted full back. Even if Cucurella stays, Chelsea will need to bring a new left back I believe, one who would be more suited to being inverted. Or maybe Chilwell can be inverted? Only Maresca will know that.
Building from the back is another key feature of both Guardiola’s and Maresca’s games. One of the Italian’s first signings was goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, who not only became one of the Championship’s top shot-stoppers, but was also comfortable with his feet.
Maresca would allow Hermansen to venture out of his goal to give an extra player in the build-up and form a back two with Jannik Vestegaard.
This is the next ‘need’ because let’s be honest, none of Robert Sanchez or Djordje Petrovic would fill anyone with confidence of being able to step up as a true sweeper-keeper with the high standards of quality with the ball at their feet. For me, Chelsea will absolutely need a new goalkeeper more suited to play this way.
Cole Palmer will be a key player for Maresca, as he would be for any manager, and I believe he will look to Palmer to be one of his chief creators.
Elsewhere in the final third, Maresca – like Guardiola and another disciple in Mikel Arteta – uses wingers who fall under the category of ‘one-on-one explorers’.
Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu had the most one-on-one duels in the Championship last season. These are categories that the likes of Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have dominated in the Premier League in recent years.
Do Chelsea have such wingers to fulfill the one-v-one ambitions of Maresca? I’m not so sure. Noni Madueke could be a key feature, Raheem Sterling is a good 1v1 winger, Mykhailo Mudryk not so much in terms of skillset but does have the pace to do it. Cole Palmer is a creator. Christopher Nkunku is more of a 10.
Chelsea will probably need another winger. Can Michael Olise fit that? How about Jack Grealish, who was mentioned above? He suits. Chelsea have interest, as I reported recently. Maybe another Manchester City connection comes in to play this summer? You know I’d be all for that. It will be interesting to see who we go for as another key piece to the Maresca puzzle, right?
The striker is obvious for me, everyone knows we need a new striker and that goes without saying. Even if you highly rate Nicolas Jackson, you will know we need more than just one number 9 in our squad. Jackson by the way, maybe he could be a 1v1 winger out on the left? I’ve always preferred him playing in from the left.
A lot of people have mentioned a lack of Plan B in Maresca’s setup, something that we also moaned about with Mauricio Pochettino last season.
Leicester went on a run of 10 points from as many games between mid-February and April, and many Leicester fans blamed a lack of Plan B and there was also hostility amongst the stadium fans at the time, with booing too.
“Fans were thinking the club was eight months into the season now, clubs were learning how Leicester play and how to stop it, but Maresca wasn’t doing anything to get past it,” said Blackwell.
“They kept playing the same way. But that is him. He’s decided what the best way of playing is, the most successful way, and he’s not going to change it.
“He says he has a Plan B, but it has been Pereira playing as a No 10 when he moves into midfield rather than as a sitting midfielder.”
I think we might need to get used to players ‘playing out of position’ but I guess we will once again need to ‘trust in the process’. As I say, winning is always most important for me, and if I see that and progress and improvements, then I’m always on board.
Leicetser midfielder Harry Winks, who has worked under Pochettino, Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho, has called Maresca the best manager he has ever played for.
“The Leicester players have spoken about feeling a bit stupid when he came in, he was teaching things they’d never considered or thought about, totally different ways of thinking about the game,” added Blackwell.
It took several months for his new side to fully get their heads around the consistent and relentless demands of his playing style, but his methods were evident and becoming ingrained even in a first pre-season friendly with Peterborough in early July.
“If Chelsea are looking for a yes man, he’s not that person,” said Blackwell. “He will say things in the media the club would probably be kept private.
“If you’ve got a manager who’s willing to do public power plays in the media, that would put some clubs off. It doesn’t seem to align with what Chelsea seem to want – but he is a pure coach.
“He’s been quick to say he doesn’t want more control, he’s happy with his job being on the training pitch, organising the team tactically. He just wants to know what’s going on.”
This has a sense of if things are going bad or wrong on the pitch, then they can soon become bad and wrong off it as well, especially if he becomes outspoken towards anything the ownership are doing. I do fear that a little bit I must admit.
Italians are known to be passionate people, and we will certainly see that from Maresca. He does have that aura about him, and I believe that as long as we see progress, he stands a decent chance of connecting with the fans like many Italians have came and done here before him.
If Maresca brings success, we will see a real love for him from the stands, I do believe that – I mean it would be daft not to see it at that point right? He is the punching the air manager, running up the pitch celebrating, and he goes to clap the traveling fans – all of that will help create a connection.
I mean, Pep seems to rate a lot of managers. But this time, his comments are not tactical ahead of playing against the team of the manager he is complimenting. So you’d suspect these words are sincere.
Guardiola said in 2021: “I am delighted with Enzo Maresca in the EDS, I have a feeling he will be an incredible manager like I had with Mikel Arteta…”
And ‘extraordinary coach’….
I think if we can get it right, and we get this summer right with the needed recruitment, I hope that Maresca can be successful here. I’m not confident yet, I’d be lying if I said that. I’m very concerned, but the positives are certainly there and he has the makings of a good manager.
Let’s see what next season brings….
*Images and some facts/quotes via Sky Sports
