Enzo Maresco: Why the Chelsea coach is really under pressure

Chelsea were satisfied with Maresca at the end of last season having successfully qualified for the Champions League – internally considered their most significant achievement – winning the UEFA Conference League, which was widely expected, and a Club World Cup triumph, which came as a welcome surprise.

There was genuine joy and support among key figures at Stamford Bridge, including sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, and influential owner Behdad Eghbali.

In line with the strategy agreed when Maresca was appointed from Leicester City in 2024 – for which the club paid £10m – he focused on coaching the team while those above him oversaw much of the backroom staff, medical department and transfers.

The transfer policy – signing the world’s best young players from lower leagues to create the smallest squad in the Premier League – remains in place.

Mariska would know what he was signing up for. His complaints are not about the quality of his players or strategy, but rather the perception of his work with this young group.

The Italian is encouraged to rotate his team, but he often feels that when he does so in the Premier League, his team drops points. He also publicly urged reporters to question the hierarchy.

People familiar with his thinking say he defends his work because he believes he is doing better than many have acknowledged, given the age of the team. He also feels the club should have offered him stronger protection from outside criticism.

Maresca sought to raise his profile after recent success. He was planning to publish a book – which was banned by the club – and spoke at Il Festival dello Sport in Trento, Italy, without Chelsea’s permission, at an event organized by newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.

His “worst 48 hours” comments came without warning to club staff or senior management, who would have preferred such discussions to remain private. These statements even surprised his team members.

Maresca also publicly criticized Chelsea for failing to sign a central defender after Levi Colwell suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in pre-season. The hierarchy made it clear that doing so could prompt promising academy player Josh Acheampong to request a transfer, which ultimately prompted Maresca to back down.

There has also been a switch of agents – from Wasserman to Jorge Mendes – along with links to a potential move to replace Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, which Maresca has denied.

In addition, he increasingly avoided wearing tracksuits, opting instead for his own clothing.

Chelsea has a bad history in December, collecting only 62 points out of a possible 120 over the past seven seasons. Last season, they only managed two wins from mid-December until the last week of February.

This context shows that Chelsea may have had bad spells before – the situation is still recoverable – but that other factors that have strained its relations with the club hierarchy now mean that results are necessary to strengthen Maresca’s position.