The Chelsea board made a bold choice in selecting Enzo Maresca as their top candidate to take over as head coach.
Enzo Maresca is close to becoming the new manager of Chelsea after holding talks (Image: Plumb Images)
With Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca emerging as the front-runner to succeed Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea appears to be nearing the end of their hunt for a new head coach.
After the Argentine and the team decided to part ways, there have been internal talks about who will be the next man in the dugout at Stamford Bridge. Although Roberto De Zerbi, Thomas Frank, and Kieran McKenna have all been mentioned, it appears that Maresca will be appointed.
According to football.london, the Blues have had discussions with the Italian, and the Leicester manager is expected to take over at Stamford Bridge. Maresca, who had a great first full season as manager of Leicester, is reportedly 100 percent excited about the move to west London.
The 44-year-old led the Foxes to the Championship title after assuming leadership of the team following their disappointing Premier League relegation. He won 36 of his 53 games. However, this was no ordinary instant return from the second flight; Maresca led the club in a manner never seen by the nation before as they were dragged back to the promised land.
Interest spiked when he was appointed last summer. It seemed confusing to a coach who had just worked with Pep Guardiola during Manchester City’s treble-winning season to see tika-taka play in the Championship.
Supporters were given a sneak peek at what to expect in Leicester’s second preseason game at Northampton Town. Kieran Dewsbury-Hall’s goal in the first half gave them a 1-0 victory, but the system caught everyone’s attention.
It was the first hint of Ricardo Pereira’s unique role as the inverted wing-back in Maresca’s scheme. The Portuguese, known for being your standard attacking wing-back, joined the holding midfielder in possession when the backline changed to a back three, but he played right back out of possession.
We witnessed the first glimpse of Maresca’s ideal football in action against Liverpool in Bangkok at the end of July. Leicester dominated the Premier League team for the first twenty-five minutes, giving Jurgen Klopp more than enough to worry about. Despite their 4-0 loss, Maresca expressed his confidence based on what he had seen.
After the game, he stated: “The team always looked for ways to play, not just in the first half hour but also in the second. It even surprised me because I knew the players and the team were improving, but I didn’t expect to see the way we played in the first half hour.” It was excellent.”
Leicester won 21 of their first 26 Championship games from August to January. The early Guardiola parallels were evident at the time. Even though a number of fans complained about Leicester’s “boring” style of football and lack of urgency, Leicester dominated possession statistics and easily defeated opponents.
His philosophy has fundamental ideas but is also highly complex. Time and again, a deep build-up is combined with quick passes along the back line to either create space in the pockets or break the opposition’s high press.
Summertime acquisition Mads Hermansen, who completed 84.4% of his passes and produced a string of excellent saves when needed, was the ideal goalie for Maresca’s approach. The Dane was crucial to the Italian’s strategy because he created an overload with the defenders, which freed up the left-back to advance.
“We play like we’re playing three at the back when the full-back goes inside.” The central defender is the key player because he must organize what is happening in front of him, and they [the two wide players of the back three] have to occupy the space,” he said to The Coaching Voices.
Harry Winks was one of the best players in the Championship and perhaps even returned to his Tottenham form during Pereira’s finest season at Leicester under Maresca.
“We try to bring the full-back inside for defensive reasons, as we have five players (the back three and two holding midfielders) covering the transition when we lose the ball.
“We bring the full-back inside when we have the ball for a variety of reasons. The goal is to always attempt to have an extra man and to have an overload in the middle.”
The two number-eights were able to start higher up the field thanks to the right-back’s move into midfield. The play is supposed to be built up from deep, moved to one of the two pivots, and then moved into the pocket, where Wilfred Ndidi or Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall would be waiting.
Formerly a deep-lying playmaker who frequently enjoyed making darting runs into the box, Dewsbury-Hall changed his style of play to become an all-out attacking midfielder. The Foxes’ academy product won Player of the Season and attracted interest from Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal after scoring 12 goals and dishing out 14 assists in the league.
To give others on the ball time, both players had to make forceful runs into open space. Carney Chukwuemeka and Conor Gallagher might be ideal in the No. 8 position at Chelsea. In addition to helping with the build-up play, they frequently hurt the defense with inside-channel runs that create space for the center forward.
Stephy Mavididi, a former winger for Juventus and Arsenal, was among the first to arrive and established himself as a left winger. Chelsea supporters will never forget his incredible curling goal that beat Robert Sanchez in the FA Cup earlier in the year.
There was Abdul Fatawu on the other side. The boy was exactly what you would expect from an undeveloped talent possessing incredible skill and self-assurance.
The two were essential to Leicester’s offensive plan. Both played a part in Maresca’s plan to overload the center spaces by frequently attacking inwards to exploit the space left by the advanced midfielders.
The best way to describe Leicester’s in-possession strategy, if you haven’t watched them, is that they have a back three consisting of two defenders who can play out from the back centrally and another on the left who is trying to combine with the left winger.
Two holding midfielders teamed up to create triangles with two advanced playmakers, one holding midfielder, and the appropriate wingers in the center of the field. The previous season, Wilfred Ndidi and Abdul Fatawu worked well together, and Dewsbury-Hall and Stephy Mavididi established a solid connection down the left.
The lone center forward needs to be proficient with both passing and ball handling. In order to connect the play with the two attacking midfielders, Jamie Vardy frequently positioned himself on the shoulder of the final defender, dropping deeper than his preferred play.
In a 4-4-2, Maresca’s team presses hard to regain possession when they lose the ball. Dewsbury-Hall, a frequent No. 8 player, would line up next to the center forward while the other No. 8 dropped the midfield four. Maresca’s team squeezes in with a winger on the opposite side moving inside to create an overload when the notion of pressing fades.
Maresca should have greater success because Chelsea will have more options than Leicester did. The system’s goal is to control the ball, carefully craft opportunities, and produce overloads in key areas to get past the opposition.
Stamford Bridge will be a different place. Maresca is expected to arrive with a well-defined strategy, and fortunately for him, the younger team will be motivated to modify their style of play to a more systematic approach.
In August, all eyes will be on Chelsea and Maresca. Although the Italian’s strategies are fascinating to watch, there isn’t much room for error in the early going at Stamford Bridge due to the pressure of the position.
But Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital need to loosen up on their standards. Appoint Maresca, allow him to play the way he wants, and allow him to realize his coaching ambitions.
