Enzo Maresca is preparing for a huge second season that is responsible for Chelsea, where the progress was difficult to assess in the aftermath of Constant Personnel changes
Enzo Maresca is confronted with a huge second season in Chelsea. The expectation levels are so high at Stamford Bridge that the first year of internal Maresca is still only 'on the same foot'.
Chelsea won a European trophy with the success of the Conference League, qualified for the Champions League and, demonstrably the most impressive of all, gave a feeling of calmness under the chaos.
They would never admit it, but work for a club that has spent more than £ 1 billion in the era of joint owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali takes a clear, quiet head.
It is still considered something of a circus by people who look inside from the outside and that is why Maresca's first 12 months deserve respect. But realistic it is actually the next 12 on which he will be assessed.
When Maresca took the lead, the club was open that he was a two -year season with the club world cup in the middle. It is difficult to plan and prepare when you look your agenda, dates and how the summer and beyond does not look.
Maresca should buy for some time and understanding, but we all know that it is not how it works in football – and that is why it is such a large year for the Italian coach.
This is a manager who still finds his way in his career. He received a great reputation for working with young players during the Manchester City academy and says a lot about him that Liam Delap always wanted to become a member of Chelsea because of his time to work there under Maresca.
Maresca also sent Leicester to promotion, but one of his problems at the King power was that he made himself quite difficult to like.
The football was not a rand-of-the-chair things and he was rather aggressive and defensive. The Leicester has never really hired him and it has been a similar story at Chelsea.
However, in this era of PR gurus and style, you would have had that someone would have caught him with a few pieces of advice. In honesty, Maresca probably ignores them.
Instead, Maresca closed the season by telling those who doubted him and Chelsea to “f *** off” in his last press conference of the Premier League campaign when they won a Champions League place in Nottingham Forest.
If he thought that would really bring a siege mentality to the fans he again mistaken. The fans were fortunately enough, but they are far away from the manager in the way they did with a Jose Mourinho, Thomas Tuchel or even Antonio Conte in his peak.
They have still continued expenses and £ 30 million on Delap looks good and they are almost a £ 50 million deal for Jamie Gittens. Others have arrived and done without much fanfare because they are players for the future.
The Chelsea model is young players, long contracts and a long -term vision. The Teen Kinder Estevao Willian, 18, is considered a generation talent in Brazil, but Maresca is quite dismissed as a first team player next season. They sign and borrow a lot.
They also have one of the best midfielders in the Premier League. Moises Caicedo is a brilliant player, but too many other major signing sessions still have to fulfill their potential.
Chelsea flirted with a title race last season and could have gone the top – albeit briefly – just before Christmas. Then they fell badly in the second half before they ended up with APLomb.
This season can be determined by how they recover from the United States. If they can hit the ground in the Premier League and start with Crystal Palace, West Ham and Fulham, it can be a large year.
If they have a hangover of their debilitating summer, it can be a difficult second year for Maresca.