Enzo Maresca Thread

[Laylabelle 9,592]

6 hours ago, Pizy said:

I have no real love for Maresca at all, believe me. I won’t shed a tear if he ends up going. I’m just worried that we’d replace him with someone who’s even more unproven and even more of a puppet.

Any Maresca replacement has to be an established, top quality manager who instantly commands respect from the players. None of this super young and “learning on the job” stuff.

They wont be...

[TheHulk 2,596]

18 minutes ago, mkh said:

💣There is a lot of tension behind the scenes at Chelsea.

Jorge Mendes, Enzo Maresca’s agent has a good relationship with the sporting director at Man City.

(@SkySports)

City can have him with both arms, yes we could get an even worse one with these cowboys but Maresca is nothing but a middle on the road coach and will never be a top coach, wouldn't lose any sleep if he goes to City even likelier that City will be done as a dominant force with him.

[OneMoSalah 8,966]

11 hours ago, calculatingInfinity said:

That would be a disaster. But I wouldn't be surprised if the idiots running the club, would be more than happy to let him go, especially after he started moaning about them.

Would it be a disaster? Really? Maresca replacing Pep at City? Do people think he’s really gonna be able to live up to & improve upon what Pep’s done there? And is he really that good a coach/manager? 

Regardless, I don’t think City would actually appoint him if I am honest. There is definitely something off between him & our board/ownership group on top of the fact Pep has been linked with walking away from City at the end of the season for the second or third time in successive seasons. 

If he does go there, can we give them Tosin as well for free? Won’t see many folk too upset if Maresca leaves here for City either. He is an insufferable fucker at the best of times. He would probably end up playing Haaland on the left wing and Rodri upfront. 

[Strike 7,620]

1 hour ago, MoroccanBlue said:

How is it if we fail A,B & C it’s only the directors fault? 

Only the directors fault we can’t beat Qarabag or Atalanta? Only the directors fault if we finish below Villa, Newcastle and United? 

I want the directors gone before anything else, but Maresca is a bang average manager. No way would City appoint him if Txiki was still there. This will be the downfall of their dynasty. 

 

Pretty much the director's fault with this idea of a young squad to maximize profit. 

Maresca was asking for a LCB in place of Colwill for example and there were players like Hincapie in the market. 

Quite clear why City like him - He has a good reputation in doing the nerdy stuff - watching hours of footage, preparing teams for opponents, has an idea of how he'd like to play. 

[Vesper 30,591]

David Ornstein is now hearing something he’s never heard before amid Enzo Maresca’s Man City links

https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/news/david-ornstein-is-now-hearing-something-hes-never-heard-before-amid-enzo-marescas-man-city-links/

As the speculation around Enzo Maresca’s future at Chelsea continues, David Ornstein has made an interesting claim about what’s coming out of Man City.

The media circus is in full swing at Chelsea following the bombshell exclusive from Ornstein claiming Maresca is being looked at to replace Pep Guardiola at City.

It comes after a turbulent week that called into question the relationship between the head coach and the decision-makers in Chelsea’s boardroom.

Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Newcastle, Maresca shut down the City rumours and reaffirmed his commitment to a future at Stamford Bridge.

But with no possibility of developments until the summer, anyway, any other response would have been a shock. And now, another Ornstein reveal adds further doubt to the Italian’s future.

David Ornstein very confident about one thing happening at Man City

Naturally, the links between Maresca and City only came about because of the situation with one of the Premier League’s great managers.

Guardiola has been at the Etihad for nine seasons, dominating the division over that span and cementing City as a perennial contender for titles.

Uncertainty around his future has been a recurring theme in recent seasons, but Ornstein hasn’t quite seen it get this serious.

As he told The Athletic: ““I’ve been aware of Manchester City having some interest in Maresca for some time, so it’s not fresh, but you check with as many people as you can, trusted sources on the veracity of that and of course the Guardiola element to this story as well, because if he is continuing until 2027, then it’s largely a moot point.

“And despite us having been in this position before with Guardiola and people thinking he was going to go last time — by the way, let’s be clear on that, this is not entirely new as a notion — but I personally have never had it so resounding from so many people that it’s going to be the end of this season. And they are well placed.”

Ornstein is as reliable a source as you’ll find, though everyone can be wrong.

If his ‘well-placed’ information is correct, Maresca’s personal ties to the Etihad could become a problem for Chelsea.

Plenty of time for change in Maresca’s thoughts

The Chelsea boss is a straight talker, but even the most honest of managers won’t be completely upfront when it comes to discussions behind the scenes. Chelsea have yet to comment on the Maresca links, either.

You would hope he really does intend on staying at Stamford Bridge, but there’s a long way to go until summer.

If more clashes with the ownership occur, or if Chelsea’s form takes a dive in the second half of the season, his opinion might well change.

It’s a story to monitor as we approach the summer, and one that Chelsea will need to keep a close eye on themselves. One thing this story has done is shift the power dynamic of the relationship more in Maresca’s favour.

[NikkiCFC 8,473]

8 hours ago, Strike said:

Quite clear why City like him - He has a good reputation in doing the nerdy stuff - watching hours of footage, preparing teams for opponents, has an idea of how he'd like to play. 

 

[Strike 7,620]

21 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

 

They have better players across key positions CB and ST. 

[Vesper 30,591]

9 minutes ago, Strike said:

They have better players across key positions CB and ST. 

and GKer

[Vesper 30,591]

How similar is Enzo Maresca’s football to Pep Guardiola’s?

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6897163/2025/12/19/maresca-guardiola-tactical-comparison/

Being compared with Pep Guardiola is nothing new for Enzo Maresca.

The 45-year-old’s managerial career at Parma, Leicester City and Chelsea has seen him repeatedly swat away suggestions that he is a diluted version of his friend and former colleague, but now those comparisons will go into another stratosphere.

The Italian is high among candidates Manchester City are considering in case Pep Guardiola exits next summer, as The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported on Thursday.

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Some City fans might initially scoff at Maresca’s credentials to step into the shoes of their club’s greatest-ever manager — one of the most influential tactical minds of all-time. However, strip away any bias and consider the checklist that City’s director of football, Hugo Viana, will want to tick off if and when he looks for Guardiola’s replacement.

A coach whose style aligns with the one that brought them the most success at the club? Check. A coach who has experience of the rigours of the Premier League? Check. A coach who has worked alongside Guardiola himself? Check.

You can even tick the immeasurable “understands the club” box, with Maresca having won the Premier League 2 title as manager of City’s elite development squad in 2020-21, before becoming Guardiola’s assistant manager during the 2022-23 season — the year that City won a historic treble.

Maresca had a good managerial grounding at Man City before taking the Chelsea jobAdrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images

Guardiola’s tendency to praise opposition managers can occasionally appear facetious, but his recent comments on Maresca were as big a ringing endorsement to a successor as you are likely to get.

“One of the best managers in the world, Enzo Maresca, I know him quite well, but the job he has done at Chelsea does not get enough credit,” Guardiola said earlier this month.

“Winning the Club World Cup, Conference League, and qualification for the Champions League in a league that is so tough with a young team. It is exceptional.”

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There are justified arguments that Maresca deserves more praise for the job he has done at Chelsea since arriving in the summer of 2024. In attack, only Liverpool and Manchester City have a better expected goals (xG) rate than Chelsea’s 1.8 per 90 since the start of last season. Defensively, there is almost nothing between Chelsea’s 1.3 xG conceded per 90 compared with City’s 1.2 per 90 in that time.

As Guardiola has acknowledged, posting those numbers with the youngest average squad age — weighted by minutes played — in each of the last two seasons shows elite coaching must have been a key part of Chelsea’s success.

The phrase “Diet Pep” or “Pep Lite” has been previously used as a criticism of Maresca’s style, but in the context of the latest news, it must surely be seen as an encouraging comparison for City fans.

Tactically, those comparisons have plenty of substance. Guardiola and Maresca are meticulous in their approach to building a coherent possession-based system, and have achieved success from positional principles — or juego de posicion — that see their players occupy certain zones of the pitch to break down an opponent’s structure.

One core similarity is the carefully constructed build-up the two share, which will often see a full-back come inside to form a 3-2-5 shape with a situational double pivot when working the ball through the thirds. This can be seen in Chelsea’s recent home game against Everton, with right-back Malo Gusto joining Reece James in midfield.

Maresca has frequently switched which full-back inverts, but it requires players who are highly technical or, as Maresca refers to them, those who can “play in the traffic”.

While this build-up approach helps to create numerical advantages in the centre of the pitch to progress upfield, it is worth remembering that such a setup is ultimately defensive.

“One of the reasons why we bring the full back inside is to avoid transitions and to defend better in the moment that we lose the ball,” Maresca told The Coaches’ Voice in 2023.

A strong rest defence, for those who enjoy the technical term.

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Guardiola has become more unpredictable in his build-up shape this season, but the core ideas are still comparable. Looking at City’s latest Champions League game with Real Madrid, the 3-2 build-up shape is found in different ways — either by a midfielder dropping in (Phil Foden) or via a supporting full-back (Nico O’Reilly).

The principles are designed to be fluid and versatile for both managers, but zoom out and examine the wider structure of Chelsea and Manchester City’s most common starting formation last season, and the patterns across the pitch pop out.

Control in the centre, networks in wide areas, and a territorial dominance that squeezes the opposition into their own defensive third. The similarity is compelling.

Qualitatively, Guardiola has changed City’s shape this season with more rotations between traditional wide full-backs and narrow wingers coming inside. Here, the idea is to flood the centre of the pitch and make space in wide areas, but the fundamental principles are largely unchanged.

It is those same uncompromising principles in Maresca that will be attractive to City’s key decision-makers. His reciprocal admiration of Guardiola is unwavering, with the Catalan underpinning the way that he looks at the game.

“I decided to be a manager because of Pep’s team, Barcelona, years ago,” Maresca said in a press conference last month.

“Now, if clubs or teams decide (to play) with different styles, I’ve said many times that any club, any team can decide in the way they want to play. I chose mine years ago, and this will be the way I like to watch my team play football, and also in the future.”

There is room for flexibility within it, but a patient, considered style is ultimately still at the heart of what both managers want to achieve. As shown below, no team this season has more passes per sequence or a slower progression upfield (direct speed) than Chelsea and Manchester City.

Tempo is a keyword that both are proud to be associated with. A team that can control the rhythm and speed of the game is often the dominant side of the two, and Maresca’s desire to replicate Guardiola is further borne out in the numbers.

Since Maresca arrived, Chelsea have arguably looked better when they picked up the tempo and attacked directly with runners ahead of the ball. Still, the graphic below highlights just how keen Maresca was to stamp his authority over his new side last season, reducing the share of sequences played at a fast tempo compared with the previous two campaigns at Stamford Bridge.

Notably, it brought that possession style closer to Guardiola’s once more.

With the Premier League seeing a renaissance of direct, vertical play, Guardiola’s principles have been questioned more than ever in recent months. City have embraced the chaos a little more this season, crafting new structures that focus more on verticality than ever before.

With that in mind, does Maresca have the same willingness and tactical nous to adapt?

The Italian has certainly experimented with his players in his 18 months at Chelsea, regularly playing James as a midfielder and frequently asking right-back Gusto to occupy No 10 roles during attacking phases, but there have been system tweaks alongside this.

During the summer’s victorious Club World Cup campaign, a shift from 4-2-3-1 to a 4-2-2-2 against Flamengo ended in defeat, but Maresca was open in highlighting his experimentation. A move to 4-3-3 against Fluminense was also effective in and out of possession to set up the final against Paris Saint-Germain, where Maresca also won the tactical battle against Luis Enrique.

“Pep is not a manager that is always doing the same; he is always changing, and with us it will be exactly the same,” Maresca said shortly after joining Chelsea.

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Having more players in the central channel of the pitch has allowed Guardiola to slowly arrest a key vulnerability that plagued City in defensive transition last season. Having more bodies close to the ball in possession gives you less ground to cover when you are out of possession, but Maresca’s defensive approach has rarely had compactness at its core.

As shown in their recent Champions League clash with Atalanta, Chelsea will often press high in a man-to-man fashion, with the central striker split between the goalkeeper and the centre-back. Note centre-back Benoit Badiashile’s high positioning to vacate his spot from Chelsea’s defensive line.

The same approach can also be seen against Arsenal, but note how this can fall back into more hybrid pressing — where certain players stay man-for-man while others stay in a zonal structure.

In the example below, Marc Cucurella jumps inside to track Bukayo Saka, while Pedro Neto follows Jurrien Timber to cover the left flank.

This was a blueprint laid out in Chelsea’s Club World Cup victory over PSG, with a fluidity to their defensive structure that was the perfect antidote to their rotational attack. When it works, it works well, but it is an approach that can leave Maresca’s side open defensively if the timing is off. Instilling a similar out-of-possession structure at City will be a challenge worth looking out for.

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Guardiola’s potential departure from City draws parallels with Jurgen Klopp’s exit from Liverpool. The club’s recruitment team were required to find a head coach whose principles would build on the existing rather than rip up the playbook and start from scratch. In finding Arne Slot, the transition was seamless enough to lead Liverpool to the title in his maiden season.

For City, there are few head coaches with a stylistic fit that is more closely analogous to that of their current manager. Vincent Kompany, Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso have all worked under or alongside Guardiola, with little surprise that they are now leading three of Europe’s most elite sides.

While he is still learning on the job, Maresca falls into that same category of coaches.

By Mark Carey

Football Writer