I was Enzo Maresca’s manager at West Brom – another Chelsea manager was his teammate and gave him lifts to training

The 1998-99 WEST BROM team might seem an unlikely breeding ground for future Chelsea managers.

But Enzo Maresca is following in the footsteps of his former Baggies team-mate Graham Potter by being appointed to take charge at Stamford Bridge by American owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.

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Full-back Potter used to give teenage midfielder Maresca a lift to training following his free transfer from Cagliari.

Now he will see his former colleague take the job at Chelsea, from which he was fired in April last year.

Denis Smith, the Albion manager who brought Maresca to England as a teenager, said: “There are now two Chelsea managers who came from that West Brom team that I managed – so I must have taught them something right!”

West Brom finished mid-table in the old First Division – now the Championship – before Smith was sacked.

Even so, they ended up pocketing a club record £4 million when they sold Maresca to Juventus the following season.

And former Sunderland manager Smith reckons the Italian showed rare footballing intelligence – even so.

Smith, 76, recalled: “I had already brought another Italian – Mario Bortolazzi – to West Brom and the agent asked me to take a look at an 18-year-old boy who was available for free.

“He trained with us for less than half an hour and I told the agent, ‘He’s going to kill me!’

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“Enzo could barely speak English, but that didn’t matter. He was clearly a smart kid and boy could he pick a pass.

“If you wanted him to play as a midfielder, he understood that role very well, but he was also very useful in attack. He had practically everything.

“We got him for free, but West Brom ended up selling him to Juventus for a lot of money – after I was fired!

“Most of the time we were together, I used the other Italian (Bortolazzi) as a translator.

“But Enzo had so much intelligence that it didn’t seem like communication was a problem.

“He was young, but when someone reads the game like he did, it’s no surprise when someone can be successful as a coach and manager.

“There weren’t many players coming from Europe to the First Division at that time, in the 90s.

“But it was a good market for me, as we proved with Maresca. It was a bold move for him to come to England at such a young age, but that intelligence made it easier for him to settle here.

“Professional footballers – as I often tell people – are a smarter bunch than they give credit for and Enzo was one of the brightest.”

Meet Pep Guardiola’s disciple, Enzo Maresca

Enzo Maresca is considered one of the most exciting young coaches on the planet.

Born in Italy in 1980, he managed to guide Leicester to the Championship title in his first season as Foxes manager.

His management career began at Italian minnows Ascoli before being signed by Man City in 2020 to manage the Elite Development Squad.

He guided the youth team to the Premier League 2 title in his only season working for the Citizens – with Cole Palmer in the team.

His first senior job was at Parma, but he was sacked just months later after failing to impress.

Despite the team playing in Serie B and Maresca having an impressive squad, he was unable to take them on the path to promotion.

He returned to Man City and worked as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants in the 2022/23 season in the Treble victory.

He took over at relegated Leicester last summer and made an immediate impact as the Foxes won the Championship title.

Maresca showed his dedication to his job by living at the training camp for the first two months after his appointment.

He is considered something of a disciple of Pep and said: “For a coach, it is important to have the mentality of a chess player.”

During his playing career he played with Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi – and alongside former Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi.

Maresca would go on to win Serie A with Juventus and two UEFA Cups with Sevilla before managing Manchester City’s reserves under Pep Guardiola.

After a brief unsuccessful spell in charge of Italian Serie B club Parma, Maresca led Leicester to the league title last season.

After Chelsea triggered his £10m release clause from the Foxes, 44-year-old Maresca is following Potter into the prominent position at Stamford Bridge – vacated by Mauricio Pochettino earlier this month.

And his former boss Smith – who also managed York, Bristol City, Oxford and Wrexham – said: “They go through a lot of managers at Chelsea but, however impatient they may be, it is still a job that Enzo will feel he should take on.

“They are one of the biggest clubs in Europe and anyone with ambition would like to try.

“The best coaches and managers are those who recognize that football is a very complex game, but who manage to convey their messages in simple terms to the players, without making it too complicated.

“That’s a skill that Graham Potter has and I’m not surprised that Maresca has it either.”

Leicester fans won’t miss Maresca

By Graeme Bryce

It’s fair to say that the majority of Leicester fans weren’t exactly begging for Maresca to stay.

OK, they weren’t queuing and offering to take you to Stamford Bridge.

But there won’t be many tears shed or many lamentations against King Power either.

The fans’ attitude to losing their incredibly successful boss could be summed up in one word: ‘Meh’.

Maresca failed to win over the paying public, who never liked his patient, possession-based style of football.

Having been raised – some would say spoiled – by the 2016 title-winning swashbucklers, with Jamie Vardy leading coach Claudio Ranieri’s shock champions, Maresca never took off at the King Power.

So it will be interesting to see what Chelsea’s notoriously impatient fans think of Maresca’s “death by a thousand cuts” style of play.

It wasn’t long before some of Leicester’s old school fans started complaining that Maresca’s patient, style of play was becoming too boring to watch.

During the 3-1 victory over Swansea, which left them ten points clear at the top, there were groans and groans coming from the stands amid chants of ‘Take the ball forward’.

Fans accused him of stubbornly following his Plan A – even when it wasn’t working – and claimed he was too slow to make substitutions.

But one thing Blues fans can look forward to is his human management and attention to detail.

And the Foxes players loved their coach too.