CHELSEA CONFIRM LEICESTER CITY MANAGER ENZO MARESCA AS THEIR NEW HEAD COACH
Chelsea Football Club have appointed Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca as their new head coach, the West London outfit confirmed on Monday.
Maresca, who’s been on holiday in Marbella, Spain following the conclusion of the domestic season a few weeks prior, signed a five-year deal that will keep him at Stamford Bridge until June 30th, 2029. Chelsea also have an option to extend him for another year, until summer of 2030.
The former Leicester City boss will join the Blues with his own backroom staff, including former Chelsea and Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero. Others among Maresca’s staff include Ben Roberts, who will join the staff as the goalkeeper coach and has been appointed to the role of Head of Goalkeeping, Head of Set-Piece Department Bernardo Cueva, and first-team coaches Danny Walker, Michele de Bernardin, Marcos Alvarez, Javi Molina and Roberto Vitiello.
“To join Chelsea, one of the biggest clubs in the world, is a dream for any coach,” said Maresca in a statement released by the team. “I look forward to working with a very talented group of players and staff to develop a team that continues the club’s tradition of success and makes our fans proud”.
The new Chelsea head coach won the EFL Championship with Leicester City this year and instead of coaching the Foxes in the Premier League, Maresca is set to take on the huge task of coaching one of the biggest clubs in England. According to European journalist Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea paid Leicester City a little more than €10 million in compensation to sign the 44-year-old and his staff.
Chelsea’s ownership group stated “We are thrilled to welcome Enzo into the Chelsea family. We look forward to supporting him and the rest of the sporting team in fulfilling their potential and our expectations over the years to come. He is a highly gifted coach and leader that we are confident can help fulfill our vision and competitive goals for the Club”.
Sky Sports reported this week that amongst the reasons Chelsea were impressed by Maresca was his impressive knowledge of the current Chelsea squad, his possession style of play that is atypical of the modern game, and his innate ability to answer questions and deal with the media. Sentiments that were echoed by Chelsea co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.
“He [Maresca] has proven himself to be an excellent coach capable of delivering impressive results with an exciting and identifiable style,” said Winstanley and Stewart. “Enzo has deeply impressed us in our discussions leading up to his appointment. His ambitions and work ethic align with those of the club. We thoroughly look forward to working with him.”
Amongst the reported qualifications of the Chelsea board of directors following a parting of ways with former bosses Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino over a period of just two years was that they intended to hire someone who was a head coach and not a manager.
The new hire would only be interested in coaching and developing players and would not involve himself in roles like player recruitment, signings, or be involved in the making of personnel decisions.
Chelsea midfielder Connor Gallagher, who has been linked with a move away from the club now that Pochettino has left, said that he was looking forward to the opportunity of working with Maresca.
“Real exciting, I have heard really good things and I’ve seen really good things as well,” said Gallagher after England’s 3-0 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina at St. James’ Park on Monday. “Myself and everyone at Chelsea are really happy and excited to work with him. We want to get Chelsea back to where they belong so hopefully with the new manager, we can start to progress and get to where we belong.”
The Italian manager was the unanimous no.1 choice for Chelsea on a shortlist that included Brentford’s Thomas Frank, Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna, and recent Brighton and Hove Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi. Maresca had previously worked with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and is thought to be one of the best upcoming managers in European football.
“The most important is positional play and strategy,” Maresca told Gazzetta dello Sport. “For a coach, it’s important to have the mentality of a chess player: develop a plan, study counter moves, choose the arrangement of the pieces.”
His attention to detail wowed the Leicester players this season, and in true Guardiola-esque fashion, it led to a distinctive playing style based on seeking total control through possession (61.6 percent average at Leicester). Maresca replaces former manager Mauricio Pochettino, who wrote a heartfelt message for the club and its fans on Tuesday this week, two weeks after his May 21 departure.
“To the owners, [and] the sporting directors, we appreciate the opportunity to return to the Premier League at this great club and for the support you gave us, as well as from all the players, staff and fans – thank you,” wrote Pochettino. “We understand how important this football club is to you all and that is why we worked so hard to give you a Chelsea you can be proud of.”
“I am so pleased with the level the team reached and the way the players and staff have all worked hard so hard to increase their standards, they deserve great credit and I hope you felt that too in how they performed on the pitch.”
Pochettino didn’t shy away from the ups and downs the Chelsea team had to endure through the course of the 2023/24 campaign but said he always believed the team would arrive at a consistent level.
“I believe the experiences of this season and [the] big improvement we saw will only make the players stronger for the future,” added the Argentine. “It has been a pleasure to work with them all and we appreciate the strong bonds we created in this last year together. I want to wish all of you the best for next season and beyond.”
The 52-year-old manager will be back at Stamford Bridge this weekend to uphold his prior commitment to UNICEF’s Annual Soccer Aid Charity match.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Tim Filbert. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.