After a couple of weeks to forget for Chelsea, Enzo Maresca is coming under fire.
Many around Chelsea would have expected a better start to the season after such a successful Club World Cup campaign.
But the consequences of the summer’s triumph are coming to bear in the early stages of the campaign, with injuries galore within the squad. None more impactful than Cole Palmer’s.
The results have admittedly been poor, leading some fans to question Maresca’s future, but Todd Boehly and the Chelsea ownership are backing the manager to pull through.
Enzo Maresca responds to doubts around his future
This type of sentiment tends to spread like wildfire, and Maresca was always going to be pressed for a response.
In his Champions League pre-match press conference, the Chelsea boss was asked about the pressure that might be building in the face of poor results and what morale is like at present.
He was sure-footed in his response, saying: “In this moment, we need to be positive. First of all, because it is what the players need. Secondly, because there is no reason to be negative. This morning, the club showed me in the last six months, we lost five games, four of them with red cards.
“The reality is that there is not any pressure. The pressure we have is what we know – being at Chelsea as a manager, you have to win games, no doubt.”
Maresca leaves no room for doubt. He has the board’s backing and is quick to point out the external factors that have influenced the shaky start.
Maresca baffled by replacement talk
The idea of Maresca getting his marching orders seems absurd. He has done extremely well in his short time at the club and has shown he can compete at the highest level.
Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer couldn’t believe the talk of him being replaced, and Maresca himself has pointed out the ridiculousness of the suggestion.
He remarked: “Football is a crazy world. If you lose five games in six months and you need to say things to defend yourself, then I think it’s a crazy world. Compared to last season, we all improved, and the players have more experience.”
Of course, it only takes a small section of a fanbase to pedal certain rhetoric, but if you asked a random Chelsea fan on the street, it’s doubtful they would echo the sentiments seen online.
Maresca is dealing with significant problems to start the campaign, and while he certainly isn’t immune to criticism, the difficult situations that have led to these exit talks can and will be corrected as we go deeper into the season.
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