Chelsea, Maresca part ways as the Italian leaves role after eighteen months
Amid Chelsea’s run of poor results, The Blues have finally parted ways with their head coach, Enzo Maresca today.
Earlier today, it was reported on various news outlets that the Italian coach was on the bring of leaving his role as Chelsea coach ahead of their encounter with Manchester City on Sunday.
According to the statement released by the official website of the club this afternoon: “Chelsea Football Club and head coach Enzo Maresca have parted company.
“During his time at the club, Enzo led the team to success in the UEFA Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup.
“Those achievements will remain an important part of the club’s recent history, and we thank him for his contributions to the club.
“With key objectives still to play for across four competitions including qualification for Champions League football, Enzo and the club believe a change gives the team the best chance of getting the season back on track.”
Maresca’s departure simply means that Chelsea will now be looking to appoint fourth manager since their takeover by American investor Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital in May 2023.
Enzo Maresca became Chelsea coach in June 2024 and won two major trophies with the club─Club World Cup and UEFA Conference League─also achieving fourth-placed finish last season to secure Champions League berth.
But during the poor run of results, intra-club relations with the top figures at the club became strained since closing of last year.
Skipping his post-match conference following dramatic 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on Tuesday mirrored another side of the intra-club issues, even as his absence was bordered on illness.
Maresca stood firm on the statement he made on December 13 when he stated that various persons within the club were not supporting him and the squad, which made him describe the moments prior to the Blues’ 2-0 victory over Everton as “the worst 48 hours” of his stay at the club.
A few days later, it was reported that Enzo Maresca could be a perfect replacement should Pep Guardiola leaves Manchester City at the end of the season, but the Italian responded by saying that it was “100 per cent speculation.”
During November, Maresca was rated so high after Chelsea defeated Barcelona 3-0 and were placed three points adrift the top of the table, but after a 1-1 draw at home against Arsenal, Chelsea have dropped off the Premier League pace and abysmal outings against Bournemouth and Aston Villa during the holiday piled more pressure on him.
Just like Mikel Arteta, Enzo Maresca also served as an assistant to Pep Guardiola, and he was appointed as Chelsea coach in June 2024 on a five-year deal, succeeding Mauricio Pochettino.
After leaving Manchester City, Maresca was appointed at Leicester City head coach in 2023, where he was the Championship title with the Foxes.
‘Chelsea Considering Focused Coach’
According to analysis from Sky Sports News reporter, Kaveh Solhekol: “It has been painted as a mutual decision. “It is very rare for managers or head coaches to resign because typically they don’t get a payoff, but Maresca is someone who is very proud. I think he feels that he could not carry on working at Chelsea.
“At the same time, Chelsea felt that now was the right time for a change.
“The first reason? Results. They simply have not been good enough. Chelsea have won only one of their past seven Premier League games and they have dropped 20 points from winning positions in the league and Champions League this season.
“The second reason is because I believe there have been disagreements behind the scenes about return-to-play protocols for injured players. Chelsea have an independent medical department who have the final say. From Chelsea’s point of view, their head coach will never have the final say when it comes to that.
“Another reason, from Chelsea’s perspective I think, is Maresca being linked with other jobs like Juventus and Manchester City.
“There may have been a sense from inside the club that these links were a distraction and coincided with a dip in form and results.
“There have been clues that not all has been well behind the scenes, such as Tuesday night when Maresca did not hold a post-match press conference after the draw with Bournemouth because, we were told, he was ill.
“It has added to a sense of volatility at the club but the sense is that things have not been right at the club for some time.
“This is Chelsea we are talking about – there is always something happening and the owners want to get away from that and get in someone as a head coach who is going to coach the team and buy into how the club is run – somebody is who is not going to go off-script.”
Chelsea Considering Liam Rosenior?
Reports are being gathered that Chelsea are considering Strasbourg manager, Liam Rosenior.
According to Kaveh Solhekol: “There is expectation around Liam Rosenior. Would Chelsea be worried that he is inexperienced? His only managerial experience in English football has been at Hull City. But I was told: ‘Look at Enzo Maresca’.
“There is a feeling at Chelsea that it wouldn’t be that much of a risk to turn to Rosenior, but of course it would be a massive step up for him, to go from Strasbourg in Ligue 1 to managing one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“Rosenior, however, is just one of the candidates.”
Whom Chelsea will look to appoint to replace Enzo Maresca remains to be seen as the fans and players are totally in shock at Maresca’s departure.
