It was late on Sunday when Kieran McKenna’s phone rang with Chelsea’s co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, who wanted to personally let him know the news – that he was close, but would not, be their club’s next head coach.
It was a nice touch, out of courtesy and respect for how highly they rated him after he led Ipswich Town from League One to the Premier League, and the 38-year-old was gracious when he heard they would be going with someone else from their shortlist.
The next morning, the true identity of their No. 1 target was revealed. Not Roberto De Zerbi. Not Thomas Frank. But Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca, or ‘Diet Pep’ as some supporters have dubbed the 44-year-old Italian due to his history as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City.
He is Chelsea’s chosen one, his name arrived at after hours of deliberation in their blue bunker at Cobham’s training ground.
Winstanley and Stewart have led this exhaustive search, each working 17 hours a day since Mauricio Pochettino left by mutual agreement last Tuesday. They had gone through the pros and cons of each candidate, alongside the club’s analytics department and Behdad Eghbali, the hands-on co-controlling owner who didn’t want to leave London for Los Angeles until this arduous process had been completed.
Chelsea have moved a step closer to appointing Leicester’s Enzo Maresca as their new boss
The Italian has emerged as the top target to replace Mauricio Pochettino, who left last week
Co-sports directors Paul Winstanley (L) and Laurence Stewart (R) led the search, and each said they worked long hours as they went through the pros and cons of each candidate
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was linked with the role but was told he would miss the role
The cold realization of a second year in a row without Champions League football led Chelsea to recalibrate their mentality. They undertook this search not just with a return to Europe’s elite competition in mind, but with a plan to be in the best possible position to guarantee a long run once they get back where they really want to be.
This puts Maresca on the verge of signing a longer contract than the two years originally promised to Pochettino, with Chelsea now finalizing the deal after asking Leicester for permission to speak to their head coach.
They want stability for their structure, and the choice of Maresca has been endorsed by every executive from Eghbali to Jose E Feliciano to Todd Boehly, while there is already said to be an excellent relationship between him and Winstanley and Stewart.
Chelsea were struck by Maresca’s extensive knowledge of their squad when discussions were held through his representatives, as well as his enthusiasm for the vacancy and his vision on how, with his help, their school of starlets could perform at their best.
Chelsea want to win in style and that means, like the modern way, controlling possession. Maresca favors a 4-3-3 formation where the game must be built up from the back. He is regarded as one of the game’s astute tactical thinkers. He previously wrote a thesis entitled ‘Football and Chess’ during his studies at the legendary Italian coaching center Coverciano because he sees so many similarities between the two strategy games.
You make your move, they counter, you adjust and in the end it’s checkmate, with Maresca known as someone who likes to have a goalkeeper who can act as a playmaker by putting the ball where it’s needed, just like Ederson at City .
All this was enough for Chelsea to overlook the fact that Maresca’s CV shows he has never done it at the highest level, having previously coached Parma in Serie B and Leicester in the Championship, where he managed them in his only secured promotion to the Premier League this season. . But Mikel Arteta – another Guardiola discipline – had never achieved that before taking over at Arsenal and turning them into Premier League title contenders in time.
If everything is completed as expected, Chelsea will hire someone who absolutely loves football. You will not find a photo of Maresca on his WhatsApp. Instead, you will find a screenshot of a quote attributed to Johan Cruyff: ‘When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players have the ball for an average of three minutes. So the most important thing is: what do you do in those 87 minutes when you don’t have the ball? That determines whether you are a good player or not.’
Maresca (right) is another disciple of Pep Guardiola and worked with him at Man City
He helped transform Leicester and ensured their immediate return to the top flight
Maresca realizes that his ultra-intensive management style is not for everyone and the Italian (right) also believes it is important to have a light-hearted relationship with his players.
Maresca changed that quote and previously used another Cruyff line that read: ‘Teams don’t learn. Individuals within the team learn. Development is a personal process, even if it is carried out as a team.’
Chelsea’s players were shocked by Pochettino’s departure, with most of them under the impression that he would return for their pre-season tour of the United States in July and August. Maresca will have to involve this group in his ideas, although there are indications that he can achieve this in no time in Leicester.
He walked into the Championship club in June 2023 and changed their playing style so quickly that when they faced Coventry in his opening match in August, they looked like a fair imitation of Guardiola’s City. Six players who had started the summer determined to leave soon asked if they could stay.
Twelve-hour days starting at seven in the morning became the norm for Maresca, even though practices lasted a maximum of an hour, followed by a practice match, sometimes eleven-on-eleven. If a player was left out, he would often have the decision explained in detail – usually with reference to the opponent’s tactical plan – and let him know when he was likely to be brought off the substitutes’ bench.
Maresca realizes that his ultra-intensive management style is not for everyone and finds it important to deal with his players in a light-hearted manner. It is not enough to just do the work. Its stars need to feel like they can enjoy it too. After all, Cruijff was once quoted: ‘Football is not about suffering. It’s about enjoyment.’
Enjoy it, they did that at Leicester. Despite a falter in the second half of their Championship campaign, Maresca secured the immediate return to the Premier League that was demanded, finishing with a final tally of 97 points to secure the title.
Chelsea have watched Arteta ultimately flourish at Arsenal after leaving Guardiola’s staff and they will hope Maresca can flourish in the same way. Based on his abilities on the training pitch, he will have every chance. But Maresca’s biggest challenge may not just be managing his players, but also handling his own style. The Stamford Bridge job is perhaps like no other in English football, with the long era of success under Roman Abramovich still influencing expectations.
Talk to anyone about Maresca’s skills and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a negative answer
But his sometimes prickly comments in the media could risk sparking a row among Chelsea’s owners
Ask Maresca about his players and he is impressive. Ask him about his club’s plans, or dare to question his tactical approach, and he can become sullen, dare we say sullen.
Although Leicester were winning, some supporters were beginning to tire of a formulaic passing game that left little room for individual flair, and after a 3–1 win over Swansea, Maresca said: ‘I came to this club to play with this idea. As soon as there is any doubt about the idea, I leave the next day.’
Now imagine him declaring that after a match against Chelsea and imagine the frenzy within traditional and social media that would inevitably follow.
Fortunately for Maresca, he has smart people in his corner, and Chelsea will be hoping this will be an appointment that will elevate them to the elite level they desire. Maresca is talented, diligent and having worked with Marcello Lippi, Carlo Ancelotti and Guardiola, he knows what success looks like.
