We wipe everything clean and start again. Once again, Todd Boehly’s Chelsea decided to start from scratch, by thanking Mauricio Pochettino, whose end of season had been convincing. And by appointing a novice coach at this level, Enzo Maresca, who had just brought Leicester back to the Premier League. A new man on the bench but still the same methods on the transfer market, with mainly young players with high potential.
Omari Kellyman (18 years old), Renato Veiga (21 years old), Marc Guiu (18 years old), Caleb Wiley (19 years old), only young players, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (25 years old) as a gift to Maresca, since it was his midfielder at Leicester, or Tosin Adarabioyo (26 years old), who arrived free from Fulham. No big star or confirmed player (pending the evolution of the Osimhen case) and the desire to build an enticing game with Enzo Maresca at the helm. Former assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, he does not only share the look of the Spanish coach. Maresca wants to start from the back with a short pass and play attacking football.
New principles not yet assimilated
But for now, it’s hard to take. Far be it from us to want to draw conclusions after two friendlies, but Chelsea have so far drawn against third division club Wrexham and lost 4-1 to Celtic Glasgow. And Maresca’s playing principles have clearly not been well understood by his flock, as he himself has said. “We still confuse things with and without the ball. It’s normal at this time when we are trying to do something new”he said after the defeat against Celtic.
The sixth coach appointed since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took control of the club two years ago, Maresca is also faced with the specificities of this XXL squad, where confirmed internationals and young hopefuls are accumulating. Choices have been made to compose the group taken on the pre-season tour, and many players are now on the transfer list. Maresca will have the difficult task of sorting through the players to form a homogeneous group. On the program now, a series of prestigious opponents for the American tour, with Manchester City or Real Madrid. Then a dreaded first day, against Manchester City, in the Premier League from August 18. No guarantee of starting this new season with a victory.
