It’s that time again, another article where we look into the start of yet another manager at Chelsea Football Club.
Chelsea parted ways with Mauricio Pochettino after a bumpy and inconsistent season filled with challenges behind the scenes.
His replacement? Enzo Maresca, a former assistant of Pep Guardiola and recent Championship league winner with Leicester City.
Let’s take a look at four things I believe Enzo Maresca needs to do if he wants the best possible chance of lasting more than one season, something his predecessors Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino have failed to do.
Building a connection with fans
Now, some of you will be reading this thinking “you build a connection due to winning” and whilst I agree winning helps, I find Chelsea a unique club in the sense that personal relationships between manager and fans have always been that tad more important than other clubs.
Think of your Thomas Tuchel’s, Antonio Conte’s, Jose Mourinho’s and Carlo Ancelotti’s of this world, they all made a personal effort to connect with the fans in one way or another.
Then on the flip side, you can think of Rafa Benitez, Maurizio Sarri, Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino and others who failed to make an effort to build a relationship with the fans.
Personally, if Enzo Maresca can get the fans behind him from day one, he will have a much better chance of being supported in the rough patches.
Go over to the Matthew Harding at the end of each game and clap the fans, go to the away fans who make long travels with the team and clap together, show passion on the sideline and celebrate when we score a goal.
Profiling players correctly (Squad management)
Chelsea will go into this season with UEFA Conference League to think about which means more minutes likely to be shared around the squad. Whilst on paper this is a good thing, it can only be beneficial if Enzo uses the squad well with consistent rotation and profiling players correctly.
Enzo likes to build up in a 3-2-5 formation and will bring more tactical nouse than Pochettino, but if he mis-profiles the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Levi Colwill, Christopher Nkunku and Cole Palmer, then the season could not be as fruitful as it looks on paper.
Injuries were a big issue last season under Pochettino, with multiple well connected sources stating that his relentless and intense nature of training sessions caused injuries and re-injuries to the squad.
Under Enzo, training should be more tactical, more possession heavy and less running, which should in itself decrease the likelihood of injuries, but if he does not rotate and continues his stubborn nature when making substitutions, Chelsea could find themselves in a similar injury predicament to last season.
Man management
This could also come under the bracket of squad management, but a specific focus for me would be the man management element of Enzo Maresca because the squad were firmly behind Pochettino.
Several sources described shockwaves across the dressing room when Pochettino left and many squad members posted interesting posts on social media, with players like Nicolas Jackson suggesting he was unhappy.
Enzo Maresca needs to not only stamp his ideas on the team from the first day of pre season, but also make sure that he is there to put an arm round the shoulder of every player, provide an open door policy in his office, discuss personal matters with the players away from Football and share jokes with the squad.
All of these elements listed above will help to create a bond between player and manager and will lead to the players showing similar fight on the pitch as they did under Pochettino.
Winning with style
Enzo Maresca has been selected by the sporting directors because of his style of play. Heavy possession, focus on technical ability, development of players and experience under Pep Guardiola.
On paper, his style really suits a lot of our players, but the most important factor in Football will always be results.
Not only will Enzo Maresca need to be able to handle the pressure of the Stamford Bridge faithful, and the media, but he will also have to deliver results which deliver a top four finish by the time May 2025 comes around.
If he fails to hit that objective, he will likely be sacked, which means for all the talk about a project, his five year contract could very quickly become irrelevant should he not deliver consistent results.
Overall, fans want to see a team that cares, a team that is structured and plays good Football, a team that is good defensively and a manager that brings the passion and intensity on the touchline that has allowed some of the previous Chelsea managers to be included in the Stamford Bridge folklore.
If Enzo can provide all of those above in the first season, he will be well on his way to defeating the Clearlake manager curse that has already taken two scalps in two seasons.
