Chelsea stars face brutal diet and fitness regime under Enzo Maresca with manager BANNING salt, pepper and fried eggs

CHELSEA stars could be in for five years of bland fare following the arrival of new coach Enzo Maresca.

The Blues announced yesterday that Maresca has signed a five-year contract at Stamford Bridge, replacing Mauricio Pochettino on the bench.

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Pep Guardiola disciple Maresca is expected to bring a possession-based philosophy to west London after implementing an attractive style of play at Leicester last season.

But along with his new tactic, Maresca also brings his coaching staff.

This includes fitness coach Marcos Alvarez, who was with Maresca at King Power last season when the Foxes were promoted to the Premier League.

Alvarez is known for maintaining players’ fitness levels and takes some crazy measures when it comes to monitoring their diets.

As well as his spell at Leicester last season, Alvarez has also implemented his brutal diet and fitness regimes at Sevilla, Tottenham and Parma in the past.

According to the telegraphAlvarez banned fruit juice, cake, sauce, salt and pepper while working for Spurs under manager Juande Ramos in 2007.

It was also said that his strict dietary rules led to fried eggs being removed from Leicester’s breakfast menu last season.

Alvarez is also known for being obsessive about players’ fat ratios and during his time in north London he saw the Spurs squad lose a combined 100kg.

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Chelsea players can expect their pre-match meals to be altered, the training ground menu to be changed and their body mass to be examined with regular weigh-ins.

The Blues’ stars will have to play by the rules if they are to meet the high standards set by their new coach and fitness coach – something the 2007/08 Spurs team failed to do.

Former Lilywhites duo Jamie O’Hara and Darren Bent previously said TalkSPORT how difficult it was to maintain the diet and explained that some players even took steps to break the rules by secretly eating McDonalds.

O’hara said: “When Juande Ramos came in, he banned ketchup and any sauce.

“We went on a pre-season trip and it was difficult when there was no sauce on anything. You only ate dry chicken and pasta.

“I remember the bouncer, Alan Dixon, who’s still there, used to take the boys out and buy McDonald’s.”

While Bent recalled: “There was a meat option, a fish and maybe plain rice and vegetables – that was it.

“There was no salt, no pepper… no flavor! There was no crumble either.

“There was also dry pasta – a pasta option without sauce. You try to eat pasta without sauce. Pasta, no sauce, no salt or pepper, no tomatoes!

“Dry pasta, dry chicken, simple vegetables… and no crumble. People tried, people said to him: ‘Look, Juande, people are fighting…’

“Even our captain, Ledley King, said ‘Listen gaffer, we’re fighting here, what’s with the food?’.

“Honestly, it was difficult. The food was very difficult to eat. It sounds really silly, but honestly it was really hard!”

Maresca brought six new coaches with him to Chelsea, including Alvarez.

The other five who have joined him at Stamford Bridge are Roberto Vitiello, Danny Walker, Michele de Bernadin, Javier Molina Caballero and former Blues goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

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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 their 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.