Chelsea are set to appoint Italian Enzo Maresca as their next manager. The 44-year-old is still in contract with Leicester City, but he has already spoken to the club about his interest in making the switch to Chelsea. Having spent just a season in the Championship with Leicester, Maresca grabbed the headlines with his wonderful possession-based playing style. However, his lack of experience in top-flight football has got some Chelsea fans worried about their club’s future.
The only top-flight experience, Maresca had came with Parma. But his stint with the Italian side was cut short as he was sacked after just 14 games. He then moved to Manchester City and worked as Pep Guardiola’s assistant in their historic treble-winning season. His work at City made Leicester take a gamble and appoint him as their head coach to lead them back to the Premier League. He worked wonders with them and led the club back to the Premier League in his first season in charge.
Under Enzo Maresca’s coaching, Leicester secured 31 wins. Reading is the only team to have won more games [33] in a Championship season. Although he faced a lot of criticism from Leicester fans over the team’s style of play, Maresca continued with what he felt was the right way to play football. Ultimately, it all worked right as the Foxes gained promotion just one season after being relegated from the Premier League. On the way to winning the Championship, Leicester had the second most goals scored, while they conceded the least among the 24 other teams. It shows that Maresca has the ability to strike the right balance between attack and defence, something which is essential to survive in top-flight football.
Why are Chelsea fans worried about Enzo Maresca’s appointment?
If Enzo Maresca confirms a deal with Chelsea, he will be the sixth manager to be on the touchline under the ownership of Todd Boehly and his consortium. The appointment of Mauricio Pochettino at the end of the 2021-22 campaign, was not appreciated by Chelsea fans due to his past stint with Tottenham Hotspurs. However, he turned things around towards the end of his spell with the Blues and fans started to sing praises of him. His sacking proved to be a major shock to the fanbase, but this trend has been observed in the past at Chelsea.
There is no doubt that Maresca is a great footballing brain. But managing a club like Chelsea requires a lot more than that. The Blues have had coaches like Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel, on their touchline in the past, all of them had enough success before they even joined the club. Having said that, the current front-runner Maresca has not coached a side like Chelsea before and this proves to be a big reason of concern for the fans, who have already endured a lot in the last couple of years.
Enzo Maresca is not new to English football
Enzo Maresca was a footballer for 19 years before he decided to move into coaching. After playing his youth football at AC Milan and Cagliari, the Italian moved to England to play for West Bromwich Albion. His performances in West Brom were brilliant and this helped him earn a move to Juventus. After he decided to become a coach, Maresca had spells with Sevilla and even West Ham United, where he worked with Manuel Pellegrini as an assistant.
According to former West Ham player Robert Snodgrass, Maresca’s tactical nuance was revelatory. Speaking about the Italian, he said, “You had forwards who were so high they’d be offside, but then they’d come back in the second phase and give you a threat. His speaking about it was an education for me. He made me a better player….”
While Chelsea fans have all the right to be concerned about their club’s future, Maresca is certainly familiar with what the English top-flight has to offer. He has been an assistant for several years and served as the manager of a Leicester team that lost a lot of their talent due to relegation. However, he is a tactician and taking a gamble on him is a high risk, but it could return big rewards.
