Enzo Maresca facing make-or-break Chelsea spell as internal view on progress emerges

Enzo Maresca is gearing up for a huge second season in charge of Chelsea, where progress has been difficult to assess in the wake of constant personnel changes

Enzo Maresca is facing a huge second season at Chelsea. The expectation levels are so high at Stamford Bridge that internally Maresca’s first year in charge is still only seen as being “on par.”

Chelsea won a European trophy with the Conference League success, qualified for the Champions League and, arguably most impressively of all, provided a sense of calm among the chaos.

They would never admit it, but working for a club which has spent more than £1billion in the era of joint owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali takes a clear, calm head.

It is still regarded as something of a circus by people looking in from the outside and that is why Maresca’s first 12 months deserve respect. But, realistically, it is actually the next 12 upon which he will be judged.

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When Maresca took charge, the club were open about his being a two-year season with the Club World Cup sandwiched in the middle. It is difficult to plan and prepare when you do not know your calendar, dates and what the summer and beyond will even look like.

That should buy Maresca some time and understanding but we all know that it is not how it works in football – and that is why it is such a big year ahead for the Italian coach.

This is a manager still finding his way in his career. He gained a big reputation for working with young players while at Manchester City ’s academy and it says much about him that Liam Delap always wanted to join Chelsea because of his time working there under Maresca.

Maresca also steered Leicester to promotion but one of his problems at the King Power was he made himself rather difficult to like.

The football was not edge-of-the-seat stuff and he was rather aggressive and defensive. The Leicester never really took to him and it has been a similar story at Chelsea.

You would have though by now, in this age of PR gurus and style, that someone would have got hold of him with a few bits of advice. In fairness, Maresca is probably ignoring them.

Instead, Maresca finished the season by telling those who doubted him and Chelsea to “f*** off” in his final press conference of the Premier League campaign when they won at Nottingham Forest to clinch a Champions League place.

If he thought that would really bring a siege mentality among the fans he again was mistaken. The fans were happy enough but they are a long way from loving the manager in the way they did with a Jose Mourinho, Thomas Tuchel or even Antonio Conte in his peak.

They have still carried on spending and £30m on Delap looks good business and they are close to a £50m deal on Jamie Gittens. Others have arrived and done so without much fanfare because they are players for the future.

The Chelsea model is young players, long contracts and a long term vision. The teenage prodigy Estevao Willian, 18, is regarded as a generational talent in Brazil but Maresca has been rather dismissive of him as a first team player next season. They do sign and loan out a lot.

They also have one of the best midfielders in the Premier League. Moises Caicedo is a brilliant player but too many other big signings are yet to fulfil their potential.

Chelsea flirted with a title race last season and could have gone top – albeit briefly – just before Christmas. Then they fell away badly in the second half before finishing with aplomb.

This season could be defined by how they recover from the United States. If they can hit the ground running in the Premier League and start with Crystal Palace, West Ham and Fulham then it could be a big year.

If they have a hangover from their gruelling summer then it could be a difficult second year for Maresca.

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