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Afolabi Ezekiel - December 15, 2024
Chelsea is quickly turning things around under the guidance of Enzo Maresca. The team has had a disappointing season and there is real doubt about their standing as a serious contender, but recent performances and development suggest that down the line the management’s strategy may work. Here’s a breakdown of how Chelsea have transformed from a mid-table team into genuine title contenders
After the takeover by the Todd Boehly-led consortium, Chelsea has spent more than £1 billion on transfers, with recent windows indicating a different approach. The club started signing young, high-profile talents, with long term contracts who are inexpensive in terms of wages. The goal is to create a group of people who can grow together for years. This has produced an interesting and vibrant team with such prospects as Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, as well as Moises Caicedo. Its record of having the youngest starting eleven in Premier League history (average age of 23 years, 220 days) also stresses on this policy. Players like Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho were also brought to the club after Maresca reviewed the squad which exhibited tactical synthetic nature of manager and recruitment team.
Management Structure
Off the field, the club has sought to bolster the structure with personnel in scouting, analytics, and performance. New co sports directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart among many others like Joe Shields have reconstructed the scouting and recruitment. This has laid down this progress that is continuous to ensure that the decision making is in tuned with that vision of Maresca.
Maresca’s Impact
Enzo Maresca’s appointment initially caused reactions from many people. His intelligence on the field, combined with his good communication skills when dealing with players and his ability to instill discipline and a hard-working spirit in the entire team, have managed to revive the squad. His 4-2-3-1 which shifts into a 3-2-4-1 in the possession, has bestowed Chelsea with an impeccable identity. Some of his players, such as Enzo Fernandez and Axel Disasi, have publicly defended the former Leicester City manager, praising his methods and management skills.
Maresca preaches disciplined and orderly training sessions, and every drill he puts the players through is tied to his philosophical approach. He abhors delaying tactics, which has earned him their respect. Most importantly, he conducts himself fairly, especially in the dressing room.
Improved Health and Fitness
Probably the major downside that prevented Chelsea from being more successful last season was a number of injuries that disrupted their lineup. This season, the health structure has been reconstructed, and this has caused a decrease in the number of injuries. Over-training risks have been well managed through better co-ordination between the club staff and personal trainers on the players, hence making them more available.
Fan and Player Unity
In the case of transfer of loyalties from teams to players and from players to clubs, the fan/player/management interaction has significantly been enhanced. Such cooperative attitude of Maresca, his capacity to build relations with the members of the club’s hierarchy and fan groups has cultivated a beneficial environment around Stamford bridge. Fans now sing songs like “We’ve got our Chelsea back” among others during matches.
Challenges Ahead
However, there are still some problems which Chelsea continues to experience. Defensive strength is also in the process of being built with a total of only three clean sheets in 15 games. Also, due to employing a young squad they have to expect inconsistency. Nevertheless, the work done by Maresca and the backroom staff means that all these problems can be solved.
Future Outlook
Chelsea’s ambitions are clear: They appear to be building for Maresca to remain as a Head Coach for the long term, like Guardiola at City and Jurgen Klopp during his time at Liverpool. Even more, next summer is expected to bring in more talents like Estevao Willian and Angelo Anselmino into the team.
This belief is still held within the club that their current success is just the beginning of greater achievements. Whether they can sustain this pace and turn it into silverware, only time will tell, but Maresca has certainly put Chelsea on a side to be reckoned with in the English Premier League.
