ENZO MARESCA has strategically transformed Chelsea into Premier League title contenders.
Cole Palmer may have rolled his eyes at the idea, while Noni Madueke has downplayed the Blues' chances, but a 5-1 win over Southampton in midweek has got the pundits talking.
They sit in second place, seven points behind leaders Liverpool, and are ready to challenge if the Reds falter.
Much of their success is down to the deep Maresca, 44, who arrived at the club in the summer.
In February, Gary Neville branded Chelsea the 'billion pound bottle jobs' after they lost to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.
But only ten months later they are title contenders under the impressive leadership of Maresca.
The Italian came via legendary Italian coaching center Coverciano.
It was there that his love for chess was revealed, where he compared the beautiful game to the age-old board game.
That encouraged the tactician to write his thesis comparing the two and their similarities.
His thesis was aptly called 'Football and Chess'.
“There are a lot of similarities,” Maresca revealed.
“The most important thing is positional play and strategy. It is important for a coach to have the mentality of a chess player: develop a plan, study counter-moves, choose the arrangement of the pieces.”
Maresca's philosophy
'The arrangement of the pieces' was clearly reflected in Maresca's team selection at St Mary's.
Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku were called up, with a potentially overloaded Nicolas Jackson on the bench.
With a large team of talented stars at his disposal, Romeo Lavia, Enzo Fernandez and Jadon Sancho are all rotated.
It is not unusual for a completely different team to be selected for the Premier League or the Europa Conference League.
Maresca is not tied to one philosophy. Very often he chooses a team that is suitable for the opponent's game.
As a strategist, he makes subtle adjustments every week.
An example of this was Moises Caicedo, reborn in central midfield this season, at right-back against Aston Villa.
That allowed the Ecuadorian to move into midfield when Chelsea were in possession, with Enzo Fernandez supporting the attack in a CAM position, giving Cole Palmer more space.
If you've played 5D chess, a game that becomes increasingly complex through a series of alternate timelines, it's similar to how Maresca's thought process goes when Chelsea is in action.
'We have Chelsea back'
For a few years, they hadn't done that under the regime of Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.
But at Southampton the away supporter stood fully behind the club and sang: 'We've got Chelsea back.'
There was also a youthful exuberance about the team playing the Saints.
The average age of the selected team was 24 years and 162 days old.
Incredibly, that was the oldest first XI selected by Maresca this campaign – and the fourteenth youngest used by any Premier League club.
However, given the club's transfer activity in recent times, it was telling that there were no Cobham graduates in the starting line-up.
Only Levi Colwill, who was followed by Bayern Munich last summer, was the only youth player in the team.
If the team develops the way Maresca wants, given the age of their players, they should reach their peak in the coming years and mount consistent title challenges.
Although they don't want to admit it yet.
“We are ready, but whether we are in it or not is another question,” Madueke said.
“We take every game as it comes.”
Goals, goals, goals
Chelsea have found new life under Maresca, thanks to the implementation of a different playing style.
In the past they have been teased for being 'Cole Palmer FC', but they are far from that. There are now attacking threats all over the pitch.
When Sancho scored against Southampton, he became the 15th different player to score for the West London giants.
Another crazy statistic is that they have already scored seven more goals (31) than they did in their entire 2022/23 season.
In fact, if you're looking for entertainment and ska favorite Harry J All-Stars' Liquidator, head to Stamford Bridge, where the home side average a club record 2.6 goals per match.
You never know. You might also see them lift the Premier League trophy in May.
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