Chelsea’s decision to move for Enzo Maresca was controversial to say the least, and the owners and sporting directors really needed it to start well to avoid the pressure on them rising even faster.
They will be relieved, then, that he’s had a great start. Today he picked up the September Manager of the Month award, and according to Matt Law on the London is Blue podcast, the good results are just the start.
“I think they [Chelsea] are delighted with him and… I think they are delighted with the comfort at which he’s taken the role [as much as results]. He looks comfortable and feels comfortable and sounds comfortable as a Chelsea head coach. And I think they will be just as delighted with that, because I don’t think they had any doubts around his ability,” Law said.
“I don’t think they had any doubts around the style of football, they certainly, internally, don’t have any doubts around the squad. They feel they’ve built an extremely good squad.”
Maresca ticking all the boxes
It’s a very good way of putting it, as you’d expect from Law. It’s only two years since we saw Graham Potter take on the job, and look immediately crushed by the pressure not of the actual games and the coaching, but just seemingly from the weight of the job itself.
Potter came in with far more experience than Maresca, who is only in his third proper job, has never managed in the top flight and has only completed one full season as a manager at all in his career.
But unlike Potter, whose wealth of experience couldn’t help him make the step up, Maresca has been a natural in the role, from the way he’s commanded the respect of the players (no mean feat after following on from the popular Mauricio Pochettino) to the press conferences and handling the media.
The good results make it all easier of course – but he deserves credit for those too.
