Why Chelsea have appointed Enzo Maresca to succeed Pochettino

 

The Italian has penned a five-year deal to succeed Pochettino at Chelsea...

 

Another year, another Chelsea manager. The Blues surprisingly relieved Mauricio Pochettino of his duties last month and the rumour mill was in overdrive to predict who'll succeed the Argentine at Stamford Bridge. Kieran McKenna, Thomas Frank and Roberto De Zerbi were all linked with a move to west London but the club have ultimately settled on Enzo Maresca take over the reins. 

 

The Italian guided Leicester back to the Premier League last season, with the Foxes promoted as champions. However, Maresca's appointment has received a mixed reaction. Yes, he deserves praise for delivering silverware to King Power Stadium in his debut campaign in England yet the lack of tactical flexibility almost cost Leicester the title. Indeed, the 44-year-old oversaw a run of just six wins in their last 14 games, with Ipswich and Leeds' respective slip ups at the wrong time playing a part in their success. 

 

Nevertheless, fans will hope that 2023/24 was a learning curve for Maresca and that he'll be able to continue Pochettino's work into the new season. The latter favoured a 4-2-3-1 setup during his year-long stint at the Stamford Bridge helm, with the former utilising a not-too-dissimilar 4-3-3 setup during his sole season at the King Power Stadium. Rather than have a player operate in the number 10 role, though, Maresca prefers having one holding player and two number 8s either side. 

 

This certainly benefits the central midfielders at Maresca's disposal. Moises Caicedo has the defensive discipline to operate as the shield for the backline, while Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher, provided he stays, are perfect suited to the high-energy demands that come with playing the midfield role Maresca demands. While this may see Cole Palmer shifted back to the wing, it's a solid midfield trio that would combine tenacity, resolve and a desire to get upfield. 

 

Maresca also graduated from the Pep Guardiola school of coaching. He worked as the Manchester City head honcho's assistant for the 2022/23 campaign and will have learned plenty under Guardiola. It's no surprise, then, that Leicester ranked second for possession (62.2%), passes per game (622.7) and pass success rate (88.1%) in England's second tier last term. It's not quite 'death by 1000 passes' but the similarities between the methods are evident. 

 

City look to in the ball back high up the pitch in order to force turnovers and create chances and did so well, winning possession in the attacking third more times (285) than any other Premier League side this season. By comparison, Leicester did so 230 times; only Southampton (231) could better that return, though they played three more games than Maresca's side. 

 

 

In attack, Maresca is happy for his wide players to get on the ball and run at full-backs, setting defences on the backfoot in the process. Stephy Mavididi (203) and Abdul Fatawu (181) ranked third and sixth, respectively, for attempted dribbles in the Championship last season. It might not always pay off, but the desire to run at markers will eventually break resolute defences down. It's no wonder that Leicester ranked third for goals scored from the 75th minute onwards (23) with the pair willing to continue to try their luck against weary backlines that would eventually crumble.  

 

Conversely, there were weaknesses on show last season that will certainly concern Chelsea fans. Only Coventry and Blackburn (both 9) committed more errors leading to an opposition goal than Leicester (8) in the 2023/24 Championship campaign and supporters are hoping this poor concentration that impacted the Foxes last term is eradicated for the coming campaign. 

 

Fans at Leicester also found a lack of plan B grating. Maresca's stubbornness meant he'd stick with the same setup even as teams figured out how best to counter Leicester's gameplan, which resulted in the aforementioned run of six wins in 14 league matches. It's a big step up for the former midfielder but his management has been praised by those who have worked with Maresca in the past, with Robert Snodgrass and Harry Winks among those to speak highly of the incoming Blues boss. 

 

While Chelsea have been criticised for the way they have despatched of Pochettino, and the general running of the club as a whole, they have sought to bring in a manager who'll implement an attractive style of football. 'Get me Pep Guardiola!' 'He's unavailable.' 'Then get me his non-union Italian equivalent!' Maresca won't have been first choice for some quarters of the fanbase but the footballing philosophy is one that should appeal to the Chelsea faithful.

Why Chelsea have appointed Enzo Maresca to succeed Pochettino