If Enzo Maresca wanted an immediate insight to how difficult a time he faces at Chelsea after taking over from Mauricio Pochettino, it appears he’s got it.
The Italian has one of the toughest assignments in the Premier League given that the meddling from the Chelsea board since Todd Boehly took over the club has been constant.
Arguably, the consistent churn of first-team players in and out of the club is a major reason why the managers under Boehly have failed to bring the American the success he so obviously craves.
Enzo Maresca already at odds with Chelsea board
A fire sale this time 12 months ago meant that then incoming manager, Pochettino, had to somehow get virtually a brand new squad to gel together in record time.
It was never going to work of course, and rumours of the Blues wanting to sell captain, Conor Gallagher, this summer is believed to be partly behind the reason that the Argentinian ended up leaving the club by mutual consent.
Maresca, as might be expected, has been making all of the right noises about taking over from his contemporary at Stamford Bridge, but the reality for the 44-year-old could be very much different from the dream.
According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by CaughtOffside columnist, Fabrizio Romano, Maresca told the Chelsea board that he really likes goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez.
?? Understand Chelsea new coach Maresca told the board that he really likes Robert Sánchez.
Maresca, looking forward to working with Spanish GK next season as he believes Robert is ready for next phase of his career.
Chelsea expect Sánchez to stay at the club this summer. pic.twitter.com/0SsyYsHDqu
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 3, 2024
However, transfer expert, Dean Jones, writing for Give Me Sport, has noted that the custodian will be made available for transfer this summer.
That’s a decision which could put the new manager immediately at odds with his employer and significantly undermines his authority as soon as he’s walked through the door.
How can his players be expected to trust his word if the board are just going to ride roughshod over any decisions that he makes?
It promises to be another rollercoaster ride in West London this season.
Chelsea’s problem under the new ownership are the sporting directors who happen to have a lot of authority in making decisions. Maybe there will be success when they do the couching part also. How do you buy or sell players against the consent of the head coach from whom you demand results and trophies!???
I believe the board are correct in wanting to see the back of Sanchez , he is not good enough for chelsea and his lack of quality and footballing skills was apparent when playing last season. The game against Arsenal at home immediately springs to mind , passing the ball directly to Rice who smashed into the net his poor decision making transfers to the back line of our defence.
This is a major problem in football though , us as supporters watch our team week in week out we know the players who give 100% , we know who has the quality to succeed and for us to be a successful club . A new manager who walks into the club does not have this Knowledge, unless of course the manager watches every game via video recording . Sanchez has proved he is not good enough , the board are correct in moving him on .
If Maresca think Sanchez is good enuf keeper for Chelsea, I have doubts that he will last longer than Potter. In this case, I support the board to let go of Sanchez. He’s been a shit keeper since day 1.
It’s very bad to sell players without managers concent, Chelsea should get new director of football, who can work with the manager,but not these ones who wants to please the owner while making wrong decisions, the problem is not keeper, we want one defender, and.a striker only and keep the team we have together , I am sure next season ,the team will do better.