Chelsea said goodbye on Thursday to Enzo Marescaa dramatic fall from grace for the Italian who was named trainer of the month november before the club won just one of its last seven league games and crashed out of the Premier League title race.
The Italian, who He arrived at Chelsea in 2024 After being promoted to the Premier League with Leicester City, he leaves the club 18 months after being entrusted with the task of revitalizing it after two years without qualifying for the Champions League.
In the end, Maresca led the London team to Champions League qualification with a fourth-place finish, the UEFA Conference League trophy and the Club World Cup title in his first season with a young but very expensive squad.
But a bad streak in December and an unusual outburst of the Italian led the club’s management to take action and say goodbye to the 45-year-old coach.
“Chelsea Football Club and coach Enzo Maresca separate their paths,” the club announced in a statement. “With key objectives still to be played in four competitionsincluding qualification for the Champions League, Enzo and the club believe that a change gives the team the best chance to get the season back on track.”
Chelsea finished third in November and were among the title contenders, high on confidence after also crushing Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League at Stamford Bridge.
However, in the middle of the season they have fallen to fifth position, 15 points behind the leader, Arsenal.
The worst 48 hours
Last month, Maresca expressed frustration at problems behind the scenes, saying he felt lacking support from the club, and described the period after the 2-0 win over Everton as “the worst 48 hours” of his mandate.
The Italian did not clarify what he meant with his comment, but the damage seemed to be done, since Chelsea’s career in the league he plummeted.
Although Chelsea beat Cardiff City to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup, they have only taken two points from their last three Premier League games.
Off the pitch, Maresca also had the unpleasant distraction of denying the links with Manchester Citypointing out that he was committed to Chelsea, with whom he had a contract until 2029.
But Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at home against Bournemouth, in which fans chanted “You don’t know what you’re doing” when he replaced playmaker Cole Palmer, and also booed at the end of the match, turned out to be his last game in charge.
The club has not announced who will take charge of the team ahead of Sunday’s game against second-placed Manchester City.
