As the commitment to Chelsea and Aston Villa get up the week, Unai Emery's course and distance knowledge begins to look vital as the spotlight shines harder on Enzo Maresca.
The top eight of the Premier League is full of experience. According to the respected website, Transfermarkt Emery leads ahead, with Saturday's 2-1 victory over Chelsea his 1,002e senior fixture as a coach.
Pep Guardiola has supervised 922 Games, Eddie Howe 702, Nuno Espirito Santo 514. Then there is a gap to Andoni Iraola on 288, Mikel Arteta on 271 and Arne Slot on 248.
The Uitbijter is Chelsea Boss Maresca. The late defeat in Villa Park was the 105th game of the Italian and only 38 of them were with a club of top flight. If the qualification of the Champions League is on the line and Chelsea has only won twice in the competition since mid-December, the blues owners could be forgiven because they wish the man in the Dugout still had a few kilometers on the clock.
Experience on the couch will not prevent a keeper who commits a Howler as Filip Jorgensen did for the winner of Villa, nor will it happen that Cole Palmer misses a simple opportunity to restore Chelsea's lead in the second half. This was a narrow game and at the decisive moments Villa came to the right side of the line.
Nevertheless, battles hardened managers have experienced these wobbles earlier and they can draw on those memories when needed. Palmer was comfortably the best player in Chelsea in 2024, but on Saturday the attacker in England saw more and more agitated with himself and his teammates.
Were Palmer as a villa player, Emery could rely on many similar situations with high -quality football players in his career and act accordingly.
Maresca does not have that luxury. He was perhaps part of Guardiola's coaching staff in City and played for Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi, but this is the first time that Maresca was the man who made the most important calls.
Then there is his ability to read and respond a game. Maresca received his first team selection place and won the early tactical battle with Emery.
When Emery changed the balance during the break, but sent to Marcus Rashford to run to Malo Gusto and allow Morgan Rogers to drive in, Maresca did not respond.
He may have shifted Reece James from midfield to right-back to prevent the threat of Rashford or put Jadon Sancho on the right to run to the vulnerable Ian Maatsen.
Neither of Maresca did not move, a similar switch for Christopher Nunku on the left – a similar switch.
At least the list of fixture laughs at Maresca. Southampton at home is so close to a gimme if you can get in the Premier League nowadays and the ideal competition to lift the spirits and perhaps calm the nerves of Palmer. Then the blues have a break of domestic action until March 9, when they take on the former club Leicester of Maresca.
Villa has it much more difficult. A difficult trip to Crystal Palace on Tuesday is followed three days later by Cardiff at home in the FA Cup. Subsequently, Villa restarted their Champions League campaign on 4 March and travels to Club Brugge for the first stage of their last 16-drawing game.
Emery clearly decided that risk will bring the rest of the campaign reward.
Marco Asensio was the match winner against Chelsea, but the Spaniard is a virtual passenger when Villa does not have the ball.
Likewise, Rashford has been devastating in flashes, but there are costs for the firmness of Villa. In their last two games against Liverpool and Chelsea, Villa gave 32 shots and 5.35 xg (expected goals).
With only three clean sheets in the competition this season, it seems that Emery thinks that his best chance is to keep the back door closed and concentrate on blowing on the other side. Rashford and Asensio certainly give him the ammunition to do this.
Comments