What Enzo Maresca did to shock Chelsea as Mauricio Pochettino point and manager statement made

What Enzo Maresca did to shock Chelsea as Mauricio Pochettino point and manager statement made

Sign up to the free Chelsea newsletter for the latest Blues news straight to your inbox

More Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!

We have more newsletters

Show me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28

Sign up to the free Chelsea newsletter for the latest Blues news straight to your inbox

Invalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!

We have more newsletters

Show MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy Notice

Chelsea vs Leicester City at Stamford Bridge on a Sunday afternoon in March. Enzo Maresca is in the dugout. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is there. It's an early kick-off.

This isn’t the upcoming Premier League fixture, on March 9, but is from 12 months ago in the FA Cup. 51 weeks prior, to be exact, when Mauricio Pochettino was the head coach of Chelsea. Maresca was in his Leicester tracksuit.

He is on his way to winning the Championship, although this match comes in the middle of Leicester's drop off as they try to throw away promotion. There are similar vibes and callbacks to everything being witnessed now at Chelsea.

The game starts with Pochettino's Chelsea cutting through Maresca's Leicester like the midfield was not there. Chelsea have done this to opponents and had it done to themselves this season.

Play is fast, slick, incisive, and the breakthrough comes after 13 minutes when Nicolas Jackson sprints half the length of the field, showing why he is too good for top-level centre-backs, let alone Championship standard ones in Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard. The pair may well have led Leicester and Maresca back up but their performances this season have shown the reality is that they aren't up to it. Back to the football and Chelsea are out-shooting Leicester.

It shouldn't be a surprise, Pochettino's side only know one way of playing and that is forward. His team wait for Leicester to press and then they play through them. Maresca is having success driving through Chelsea's non-existent screen in front of the defence and could easily have scored themselves had Abdul Fatawu not been quite so raw.

Read More

Related Articles

• Chelsea star ruled out of Leicester and nobody noticed as another returns in triple team news hint

Read More

Related Articles

• Chelsea set to add new player to Premier League squad for Leicester as Maresca makes seven changes

Read More

Related Articles

• Reece James reality now clear as Chelsea one step away from unleashing new game-changer

What Chelsea saw in that first half was everything good and bad about Pochettino and then everything good and bad about Maresca. The current head coach had tactical plans to exploit Chelsea but not the personnel to take advantage. The old head coach favoured chaos and quality to save the day.

Raheem Sterling’s missed penalty caused outrage but Cole Palmer bagged a second before half-time. Chelsea showed a lot of neat skill in transition and were quick to move through the thirds. That was what Maresca had Chelsea doing when he took charge and oversaw the start of this season. It isn’t as evident anymore.

The open defence and lack of killer instinct still exist under him now as well. In the second-half a year ago he was the one to come out with credit. Pochettino left as an escaped villain.

Axel Disasi's freak own goal – scored from just inside his own half as he lobbed Robert Sanchez with a ridiculous backpass – saw matters turn completely. Stephy Mavididi equalised for Leicester with a stunning strike and Maresca was preparing to embarrass Pochettino.

Chelsea were in a bad patch themselves and Pochettino wasn't popular. He and his side lost control of this game and it took two late goals (from Carney Chukwuemeka and then Noni Madueke) to win it.

Sterling’s blazed free-kick into the upper reaches of the Matthew Harding Stand saw boos ring around the stadium at one point. It nearly descended into mutiny.

Pochettino turned things around by the end, as did Maresca as he started to become an enemy of Leicester despite having them so close to the title. The slow tempo and scratchy results grated, as did the inability to stop the rot once it started.

Maresca emerged as a strangely isolated figure at Leicester given he had achieved what he set out to at the start of the season. The manner of things meant that there was a considerable backlash as well.

Chelsea fans can sympathise. Maresca's rapid start to the season was met with overwhelming positivity. He helped to build a connection which had not been felt previously towards managers under the Clearlake Capital-Todd Boehly ownership, and the football was largely exciting.

Matters were helped by the weekly Conference League confidence boosters. There were only occasional hiccups – such as the premature Carabao Cup exit.

What has happened since December, which will chime for those of a Leicester persuasion, is more worrying. Results have dried up, so have performances. In many ways it is the reverse of Pochettino's season, which ended on a high but took a while to get going.

Maresca still has credit in the bank but wins over Southampton and Copenhagen will do little to fully restore the faith. Beating Leicester on Sunday will help but it will not define Chelsea’s season.

In order to generate the good will again Maresca will have to lead his team towards more consistency and displays with more energy. The sideways passing and insistence on waiting for a press or gap to open up in front of them – rather than actively looking to create it through flair or individual inspiration – will have to be adapted into something more exciting.

Points and results are still king and Maresca is just about holding on in that sense. Chelsea fans, like Leicester ones last season, have shown him support but also dissent. That was what Pochettino found by the end and Maresca, since his first match as manager at Stamford Bridge 12 months ago, has found things to be just as volatile.

On that day more than most he was at the centre of how bipolar Chelsea atmospheres and attitudes can be. For that reason he knows just how important it is to win here and to get a run together again.

football.london Chelsea WhatsApp channel

Want to keep up to date with the breaking and important Chelsea stories whilst on the move? Well now you can!

Click this link to follow the football.london Chelsea WhatsApp channel, where you’ll be kept up to date on the latest Blues news wherever you are.

Just remember to turn on the notifications once you've followed, and you won't miss a beat!

Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow Football LondonFacebookX (Twitter)CommentMore On

• Enzo Maresca
• Mauricio Pochettino
• Chelsea vs Leicester City