What is different about Chelsea under Enzo Maresca?

The Blues have made a flying start to the new season and are currently fourth in the Premier League.

With a sixth-place finish, a semi-final loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup, and a runners-up medal in the Carabao Cup, Chelsea’s new management chose to part ways with former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino at the end of the previous campaign, capping another turbulent season in West London.

Despite the fact that the Argentine had led Chelsea to a considerably higher level of performance over the final stretch, the board was not persuaded by the former Tottenham boss and were in favour of bringing in the young Italian manager Enzo Maresca, who had just finished an EFL Championship season with Leicester City leading them back to the Premier League.

How Enzo Maresca rise to prominence at Leicester City?

Maresca’s Leicester concluded the 2023/24 season with 97 points, 89 goals scored, and an impressive xG difference of +0.92. The former West Bromwich Albion midfielder and West Ham United coach was charged with creating a structure that allowed control with reliability, something more appropriate for a team that wants to challenge on all fronts.

Under him, the Foxes were dominant in the EFL Championship last season and many clubs took notice of how the Italian coach turned them into a top side and quickly led them back to the English top flight.

Chelsea were impressed by the head coach’s time at the Foxes and felt he could help them turn things around and re-establish them as Premier League title contenders.

Maresca’s time at Chelsea

Chelsea’s appointment of Maresca was seen as a long-term project and the club handed the former Manchester City assistant coach a five-year contract with the option of an extra year.

However, his starting game as the Blues head coach saw them lose to Manchester City, but since then the Blues have put in some convincing performances. They have displayed consistency which suggests that they are could soon compete with the best teams in the division.

When comparing Chelsea’s early statistics with those from last season, the picture does appear to be much more promising. Although it is obviously too early to draw any firm conclusions after just five games, some of the data related to Chelsea’s in-possession performance has shown notable progress.

The Blues passed around the ball extensively in their own third last season, as seen by their 33.8% defensive third touch rate, which was far higher than normal.

However, their average this season is just under 30%, which has moved them from near-average to the fifth lowest across the top five leagues in Europe. This suggests that, while Maresca still wants his side to maintain possession, he would prefer to see them do it further up the pitch.

Only Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernández, and Cole Palmer averaged more than 4.5 passes into the final third of games the previous season; Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana, two defensive backs, have now joined them.

In attack another player Maresca has improved has been Noni Madueke, the forward has shown great understanding of the game and now plays with more awareness when he has the ball. Last season, Madueke would release the ball late but this season he has quickly found the players with his slick passes. He has significantly worked on his game in the final third of the pitch.

Jadon Sancho‘s arrival at Chelsea on loan was another major talking point. There were question marks on whether the forward would be able to perform under Maresca. The England international has proved his critics wrong so far with a MOTM performance on debut and two assists in his first two league games for the Blues.

Chelsea are now playing possession-based football something their board were keen on and as the season wears on the club will get into their rhythm and deliver positive results week in and week out. They can certainly challenge for trophies this season but they will need consistent performance which they lacked last term.

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