Enzo Maresca has inherited a real MESS at Chelsea… it’s hard to see him bringing stability and progress this season
ENZO MARESCA walked into a mess at Chelsea when he took the job in the summer.
He has a hell of a task on his hands trying to fix it — and he has a horrendous start against the champions at Stamford Bridge on Sunday!
The Blues were bang average when I watched them last season and were lucky to finish sixth.
Maresca has inherited a dressing room full of big egos and I am not sure he has the experience to deal with that yet.
A brief six-month spell at Parma in Italy’s Serie B before guiding Leicester City to the Championship title doesn’t quite cut it for me.
Especially as two managers with far greater pedigree Mauricio Pochettino and Graham Potter could not sort the club out before him.
The Foxes were my banker bet to go up last season.
But it was not all smooth sailing as they lost their way mid-season and nearly threw away a 20-point lead.
I know they eventually regained their composure and won the league with 97 points but I still don’t think it qualifies him to take what is a MASSIVE job in West London.
I wish him well but I don’t exactly foresee a season of stability and progress on the horizon.
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It amazes me how managers keep coming and going at Chelsea.
Look at Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp — three of the best Premier League bosses of late.
All of them were given time to bed in their ideas — even if there were rocky times towards the beginning of those journeys.
But will Maresca be afforded the same patience at Chelsea?
He is the third manager they have had in two years under American owner Todd Boehly. So somehow, I don’t think so.
And here’s me thinking they are supposed to have moved away from the hire ’em, fire ’em system under Roman Abramovich.
It was only three years ago Chelsea won the Champions League under Thomas Tuchel.
And I fear it could be a very long time before we see them back at that level again.
Not only is it chaotic on the pitch, but their recruitment has been all over the place since Boehly arrived too.
And if good people aren’t coming in, they have got no chance.
Harry Redknapp's 2024/25 season predictions
TOP FOUR
ARSENAL, MANCHESTER CITY, LIVERPOOL and TOTTENHAM — and I’ve got a really strong feeling for Arsenal this season. A few of Man City’s star players are getting a bit older. There’s been nothing between the two teams over the past two years.
RELEGATION
EVERTON (18th), SOUTHAMPTON (19th), LEICESTER (20th) — I like Sean Dyche and Everton are a great club with brilliant, knowledgeable fans. They’re just badly run. They need to go down to rebuild to come back again. But the key is new owners.
TOP SCORER
ERLING HAALAND — I can’t see anyone taking his crown off him. He’s a goal machine, isn’t he? If I can get him at evens, I might lump on!
MOST ASSISTS
MARTIN ODEGAARD — He’ll be the catalyst for Arsenal’s surge to the title. I can see it now. He’s a superb player and he makes it look so easy.
CARABAO CUP
TOTTENHAM — Ange Postecoglou will break Spurs’ trophy curse. Most big teams will mess about with this trophy, but Tottenham will go full steam.
FA CUP
LIVERPOOL — I fancy Arne Slot to stamp his mark on English football quickly and there’s few better ways to do it than lifting this famous old trophy.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
REAL MADRID — Carlo Ancelotti is bullish about their chances. He has said that with Kylian Mbappe, it’s the best team they’ve had for a long time.
EUROPA LEAGUE
MANCHESTER UNITED — Clubs seem to have stopped sneering at this competition. And Spurs and United should be going both barrels for it.
CONFERENCE LEAGUE
CHELSEA — The Luxembourg champions could be dangerous! Joking aside, the Blues must win it.
But I don’t understand why the people responsible for paying up to £100million for bang average players on seven-year contracts are not the ones losing their jobs instead of the managers!
Maresca has got a bloated squad to deal with thanks to Boehly’s £185m splurge on TEN summer signings — which makes it a whopping 43 since his arrival two years ago.
A lot of the focus is on young and exciting talent coming in, but like the manager, I’m not sure any of them actually cut the mustard in the Premier League?
In fairness, Pedro Neto is an established winger who could turn into a great signing.
And the £54million they paid Wolves for him does not seem like a terrible deal in today’s market.
But I just cannot see how the rest of their signings are going to take them to the next level this season.
Tosin Adarabioyo, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Filip Jorgensen, Omari Kellyman, Aaron Anselmino, Caleb Wiley, Renato Veiga and Marc Guiu.
They are hardly the elite world-level players that the club needs.
The fans have rightly grown frustrated with players from their academy being turfed out in favour of less experienced, younger players, with many struggling to make an impact.
I remember the days when great characters and leaders walked out of Chelsea’s dressing room.
When you look at that team under Jose Mourinho with John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Ashley Cole.
They were an incredible side and they kept producing year after year, but this current set-up is nowhere near the same class.
Meet Pep Guardiola disciple Enzo Maresca
ENZO MARESCA is considered among 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 boss.
His management career started at Italian minnows Ascoli before he was snapped up by Man City in 2020 to manage their Elite Development Squad.
He guided the youth team to the Premier League 2 title in his one season working for the Citizens – with Cole Palmer in the side.
His first senior job was with Parma but he was sacked after just a few months after failing to impress.
Despite the team playing in Serie B and Maresca having an impressive squad he was unable to get them on course for promotion.
He returned to Man City and worked as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants for the 2022/23 season as they won the Treble.
He took over relegated Leicester last summer and made an immediate impact, with the Foxes winning the Championship title.
Maresca showed his dedication to the job by living at the training ground for the first two months after his appointment.
He’s considered something of a Pep disciple and has said: “For a coach, it’s important to have the mentality of a chess player.”
During his playing career he played under Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi – and alongside ex-Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi.
For this crop, it will be do or die to get themselves back into the Champions League.
Only if they finish in the top four will it be deemed a successful season given all the cash they have splashed.
The Conor Gallagher situation also really saddens me.
There was a huge flag at Stamford Bridge last season with a picture of Gallagher and the words: “Chelsea since birth.”
But thanks to the ridiculous profit and sustainability rules, those words look to be the exact reason the Blues seem desperate to get shot of him.
Any rule forcing clubs to sell their homegrown academy products to balance the books is stupid. It should be the opposite!
Gallagher is a kid who has grown up at Chelsea and absolutely loves the club. It’s part of his life.
I watched a documentary about him, his family and his brothers — they are all football-crazy.
So I just don’t understand what the board’s plans are.
It feels like a billionaire is playing fantasy football with a club that so many fans love — and ruining it.