Paul Merson has one big concern about Enzo Maresca as Chelsea manager, ‘madness’

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The position of Chelsea manager is often one of the most scrutinised in world football, and this season Enzo Maresca has found that to be exactly the case.

The Italian currently has the Blues in the top four of the Premier League, with Chelsea learning that there will be five Premier League teams in the Champions League next season.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	31	22	7	2	72	30	42	73
2	ArsenalArsenal	31	17	11	3	56	26	30	62
3	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	31	17	6	8	51	37	14	57
4	ChelseaChelsea	31	15	8	8	54	37	17	53
5	NewcastleNewcastle	30	16	5	9	52	39	13	53
6	Man CityManchester City	31	15	7	9	57	40	17	52
7	Aston VillaAston Villa	31	14	9	8	46	46	0	51

Despite this looking good on paper, Maresca had his side right up there with Liverpool in the title race back in December, even if the manager didn’t want to believe it.

The most recent outing of the Blues saw them take on West London rivals Brentford, where they limped to a 0-0 draw with a rotated starting side.

Chelsea fans aimed chants at Maresca and his style of play, with them extremely frustrated at the lack of attacking prowess they had against their mid-table opposition.

• READ MORE: Enzo Maresca defends decision to drop Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson as Chelsea draw 0-0 to Brentford

Paul Merson’s one big worry about Enzo Maresca as Chelsea manager

There has been mixed reactions all season from the Stamford Bridge faithful, with many believing that they should be in a far more comfortable spot than they are in the Premier League.

Paul Merson is one of those who is yet to cast his verdict on the boss, with him saying that he won’t be won over until he sees where they end up at the end of the season.

The pundit said to Sky Sports that he believes the fact that their squad is so stacked means they should have been competing with those at the top far more.

He said: “Maresca won’t win me over until the end of May. People tell me that Chelsea are doing well, but they’ve got one of the biggest squads in the world and they aren’t even close to winning the Premier League.

“Man City and Arsenal have dominated the Premier League the last two years and Chelsea are a million points off the title in the year they drop off.

“And these players are going to be together for the next six or seven years because of their contracts. It’s madness, absolutely madness.”

Chelsea’s stance on Enzo Maresca

It was claimed in the early stages of the season that Chelsea had set a target of top four for Maresca to achieve in the 2024/25 campaign.

Despite the fact that this is by no means guaranteed with seven games of the season left to go, it is believed that there is no real appetite for the club to sack the manager at the end of the campaign.

Maresca is seen as untouchable at this stage, with Todd Boehly and co no doubt keen to go a season without changing their manager after a hectic start to life as owners in that department.