I can imagine a few who would agree with Enzo Maresca's sentiments about January being a 'disaster', but perhaps for different reasons, writes Sky Sports' Gail Davis.
It didn't sound like the Chelsea boss had much time for good intentions. It took him a few minutes to train when his last day off was – for the record, it was sometime during the November international break.
What concerns him most is finding a way to revive Chelsea's season. The club's last league win was against Brentford in mid-December. They lost their chance after taking the lead at Fulham on Boxing Day and have not achieved a win in the league since. Add to that the increasing 'buzz' that the January transfer window brings, especially at a club like Chelsea, and you begin to understand his disdain for this month.
His answer to being a happy Chelsea head coach, he jokes, could be to keep his phone on silent this month.
“It's better if I don't answer,” he laughs.
The other burning issue surrounding finding a way to get Chelsea back to winning ways may not be as simple as flipping a switch. The concern for Chelsea is that there is a bit of a pattern emerging.
Against Fulham on Boxing Day they dominated the first half and took the lead, but found themselves sucked into a game plan they did not want to play after half-time, and the match ended in a 2–1 Fulham win. A defeat against Ipswich followed after Maresca's team was again wasteful in front of goal. Then came the draw against Crystal Palace after Cole Palmer put Chelsea ahead but they failed to close out the match. At Stamford Bridge last Tuesday, Chelsea had 26 shots against Bournemouth and 10 on target. Palmer scored the first, but they needed a Reece James free-kick late on to rescue a point.
Maresca has faced such a setback before in his short career as a manager. Last year at Leicester, after blowing away the Championship in the first few months, the club fell into a slump.
He has learned from it, he says, and can build on the lessons he learned to guide Leicester through it and return to the Premier League. Ultimately, he says, the stakes may seem higher, but the solutions are the same.
“No, I don't feel pressure, regardless of whether I was at Leicester last year or here. I mean, I feel pressure because I put pressure on myself to see how we can do better, how we can help players improve.” said he.
“So this kind of pressure is definitely there, but it's not just here. It was last year, somehow it was two years ago. So for me it's not a big change between last year and this year.”
“In the end it's best to work with 20 players, 25 players a day. Young players want to learn, they want to improve. And this is the same job at Leicester as here or I said in somewhere two years ago.”
He added: “If you see the table at the moment, unless you're Liverpool, the rest, we've all had a bad moment, bad results for four or five games, and it's Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa , City, all ours.
“So I think it's normal for moments like this to happen during the season, the normal. That doesn't apply to Liverpool, and if they can finish the season the way they do, it means they absolutely deserve to win, but there are so many games to play that anything can happen.”
In those more challenging moments, I ask, “Do you have a network of people outside your coaching team that you can call on?”
Considering Maresca played at eleven different clubs in four different countries under Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi and of course alongside Pep Guardiola, one can only imagine the names and numbers saved in his contacts, so the answer is surprising.
“My four children,” he says.
“I don't think you can be more honest than your children,” I add. “But really no one else?”
“No, I don't have one,” Maresca replies. “I have the coaching staff with me, we try to help each other, and then I don't have anyone outside the club, or outside the coaching staff,” he admits.
There is clearly an unwavering belief in what he does. You don't need anyone else, I ask.
“Not at the moment, hopefully not in the future, but at the moment I'm doing well. I spend almost all day here, from 7am to 7am, then I go home to my four children and wife and I'm trying to get a little energy back.”
“Come on then,” I ask, “what's the best thing one of your kids has said to you in the last few weeks? Something like: 'Dad, when are you going to start scoring?' I joke.
“The great thing is that they understand it now,” says Maresca. “The biggest one is 11, so sometimes he asks me about some changes, I say, the press is already asking me, the fans are already asking me, now my children are also asking about changes.
“Can't you just love your dad and not worry? Okay, okay, okay, I love you daddy?”
If only it were always that easy for us to laugh.
There is a lightness and warmth behind Maresca, but the overriding feeling when speaking to him is one of intensity and real steeliness – no surprise when you consider Guardiola's influence on his coaching career.
In his short time at Chelsea, he has already shown that he can sometimes make unpopular decisions. He disputes the description of 'brutal', more 'honest', he says.
“I think if you're honest with the players, if you're open, if they can see that you're real and not fake, I think that's the best way. And since we started, from day one, I've been trying that to be open with them, I try to be honest with them, and I think they can see that.
“I hope they can appreciate that. I try to be close to the players because I think I like being close to the players and then, like I said, being honest to make it work. “
The squad must never be in doubt about where they are and where they need to be – and that is now focused, although Maresca admits that will be difficult for some players in January.
One player who set these standards and who certainly isn't going anywhere for a while is Cole Palmer. A doubt for Monday's match with Wolves after a defeat to Bournemouth, Palmer has been phenomenal this season. His opener in the match on Tuesday evening was yet another addition to the extraordinary performances he has to his name in a Chelsea shirt.
Palmer signed a nine-year contract, which raised eyebrows at the time and perhaps led to news of Erling Haaland's contract deal falling apart just before our interview. Two poster boys of the Premier League, two players Maresca has had the privilege of working with up close, but who could well prove to be the bigger legends for their club in ten years' time.
“It's so complicated,” Maresca replies. “It's something that's almost impossible. Primarily because you can imagine a little bit of the future, but ultimately, you don't know, a lot of things can happen.
“The thing is that these kinds of clubs like City, like Chelsea, try to protect or keep the best player for as long as they can. The good thing is that they are both top players and they will be there for it.” long and we can enjoy it.”
There is a debate that Palmer's skills give his team more than perhaps Haaland. Maresca laughs: “We are happy with the way he is doing, but as we have said since we started, it is not right to rely on Cole for everything. He helps us, but we also have more players who are doing well do and this is important.”
Those players may get their chance on Monday and if they can take it, the complexion of the month could start to change for Chelsea's head coach.
Watch Chelsea vs Wolves live on Monday Night Football from 6.30pm on Sky Sports Premier League, kick-off 8pm.
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