There was a time when the qualifications needed to manage Chelsea it seemed to imply winning the Champions League, not the Championship. There is a history of Italian managers at Stamford Bridge, but they tended to arrive having taken charge of more games against Roma than Rotherham, Inter than Ipswich, Milan than Millwall.
But maybe Enzo Maresca is the most appropriate appointment, soon to be confirmed, for the new Chelsea: many of their signings have been potential gambles, based on very little experience of first-team football at a high level, but with the assumption that they have a high ceiling. Enter a coach with similar rawness: 14 games at Parma, one season at Leicester, none of them in the top division of their respective countries. Once again, Chelsea believe he is the ultimate talent scout.
Maresca can also be seen as part of the Guardiolaization of football. At various points in 2024, Pep Guardiola’s former players or backroom staff will manage Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. By now, there is plenty of evidence that magic has passed to Xabi Alonso, who last played for the current Manchester City manager eight years ago. If not everyone is mini-Peps, there appears to be a broader search to adopt their ideas.
Maresca, assistant coach in the three-winning season, has won titles more recently than Chelsea. He will arrive equipped with a luxury football education.
And with 97 points too – but at second level. Hiring Maresca to replace Mauricio Pochettino offers echoes of Clearlake Capital’s decision to dump Thomas Tuchel and bring in Graham Potter: sacking a manager with extensive experience at this level, used to dealing with big-name players and working in the fiercest spotlight, and appointing one who isn’t.
The Potter precedent may be unfair to Maresca; History is not necessarily doomed to repeat itself. However, there are pertinent parts: the job at Chelsea was too big for Potter, who seemed lost. He had passing principles, but they didn’t translate into attacking or incisive football. Leicester scored 89 league goals last season, but some of Maresca’s football was too banal for fans’ liking. There was anger in the stands as Leicester threatened to lose their lead in their successful bid for automatic promotion.
All of this may not bode well as he enters a potentially feverish environment. There is an obvious potential for things to become toxic. Choosing Maresca is asking Chelsea fans to trust owners they no longer trust. It starts with the initial impediment that few think Clearlake is synonymous with good judgment. Furthermore – and although Pochettino was no idol in the stands, his good result last season undermined the arguments for change – Chelsea’s powers-that-be have twice dismissed coaches whose track record gives them credibility and who have demonstrated an ability to think independently. that they didn’t have. seems to like it.
Neither Tuchel nor Pochettino seemed to want to be just low-level officials in a new system designed so that powers were in the hands of the owners. It is no surprise that the more outspoken Roberto De Zerbi did not emerge as his preferred candidate. The danger is that Maresca, like Potter, is seen only as his yes-man.
And still he couldn’t say no. The prospects for promoted teams are quite perilous, even without the current context at Leicester: the likelihood of a very limited budget; O possibility of deducting points for previous violations of profit and sustainability regulations. Certainly, some rival clubs will hope to see Leicester deprived of some points. That may not be Maresca’s problem now (unless, of course, Chelsea join them in the negative club after their own overspending).
If Chelsea is not the ideal lifeboat – many recent managers have been thrown overboard – there is also the possibility that Maresca will not receive much blame from the rest of the world if he becomes yet another victim of the Clearlake era. Their requirements appear to include a top-four finish, and their financial problems may require more focused negotiations than in the past, both to raise funds and to fill the gaps that remain in the squad with high-class players who can gel with the squad. existing and provide what they lack. Succeeding is no easy task.
It is at least auspicious that he made an immediate impact at Leicester, winning 13 of their first 14 league games. It comes together with some great reviews. Harry Winks said Maresca was “by far” the best coach he ever worked with; he played in a Champions League final under Pochettino.
And yet in other respects, Maresca looks like a step down from Pochettino. He hardly feels like Chelsea’s first choice, even among managers promoted from the Championship last season; that distinction seemed to belong to Kieran McKenna.
The days when Chelsea used to target those already established as among the world’s best managers seem distant, even though it has been less than four years since Tuchel was lured to London.
But if that partly reflects a broader trend in the managerial market, it also means Maresca has little evidence that he has the credentials. That doesn’t automatically make him Potter Mk II, but combine this with a regime that has yet to succeed with a managerial appointment and Maresca starts with a sense of surprise at the rapidity of his rise but skepticism about his prospects.
Getting 97 points at Leicester was an achievement. The duration of 97 games at Chelsea will be even longer.
