Enzo Maresca is choosing to remain positive. After Saturday’s FA Cup exit at the hands of Brighton – something the head coach called “a shame” – he preferred to look on the bright side.
“If there is something positive it is that we can now be focused on the Premier League and Conference [League],” he said. Whether Chelsea supporters – especially those who witnessed the tepid display at the Amex – shared the Italian’s optimism is doubtful.
Chelsea reached the Carabao Cup final and FA Cup semi-finals last season. Under Maresca, they have not made it past the fourth round in either competition.
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Premier League HD”/>Their hopes of silverware now rest on the Conference League. Maresca oversaw serene progress into the knockout stages and his side are overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy.
But is that enough? Sky Sports’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol noted when Mauricio Pochettino departed at the end of last season after a sixth-placed finish: “Chelsea believe they are a Champions League club”.
But the Conference League can wait. Chelsea’s priority is turning around their league form – starting back at Brighton on Friday, live on Sky Sports – after winning just two of their last eight games. They were at home to Wolves and West Ham, currently 17th and 15th in the table, respectively.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Chelsea’s win against West Ham in the Premier League
Chelsea may be fourth but they were two points off top spot fewer than two months ago. Whispers of a title challenge were building – only to be emphatically shut down by Maresca. “We are not ready,” he said in December. “We don’t feel that and we don’t smell that at this moment.”
Chelsea now lie 14 points behind leaders Liverpool. Maresca was right – talk of the title was premature.
But did his words play a part in their slide down the table? At that point, their only league defeats had come against Manchester City and Liverpool. They had just comfortably beaten Aston Villa and scored nine goals in victories at Southampton and Tottenham – only to then be told by their boss they were not capable of sustaining their fledgling title charge.
These are not the only occasions when Maresca’s words have jarred. Amid a run of one win in six games, Maresca told Sky Sports last month: “Probably we are ahead of my expectation in terms of the way we play and also in terms of results.”
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Premier League clash with Manchester City, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca says he’s very pleased with the performance of his side so far this season.” srcset=”https://e0.365dm.com/25/01/768×432/skysports-football-pl-chelsea_6809616.jpg?20250124195902 600w,https://e0.365dm.com/25/01/1600×900/skysports-football-pl-chelsea_6809616.jpg?20250124195902″ aria-hidden=”true” class=”sdc-site-video__poster-img”/>
Ahead of their Premier League clash with Manchester City, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said he was very pleased with the performance of his side so far this season
Chelsea were then again swept aside by City, after which Gary Neville said of their passive performance against the stumbling champions: “I’m not a Chelsea fan, but I’m a football fan and I would be deflated with my team.” City were smashed 5-1 by Arsenal a week later.
Of course, Maresca may point to the results he oversaw before this bump in the road. Chelsea lost just four of 27 matches across all competitions before Christmas.
But eight of those matches were in the Conference League. If you remove those fixtures from Maresca’s total, he has won 14 of 28 games – a 50 per cent win rate.
By contrast, Pochettino had a 53 per cent win rate before being replaced by Maresca. During his first spell in the dugout, Frank Lampard produced a 52 per cent win rate.
Pochettino steadied the ship during the second half of his reign, guiding Chelsea to a sixth-placed finish on the back of a five-game winning run. It appeared Maresca was building on that momentum – but the numbers below show progress has stalled.
Perhaps most concerning for Maresca is Chelsea’s habit of throwing away leads. Since Christmas, they have dropped 10 points from winning positions against Fulham, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and City. They did it again at Brighton last weekend.
Inexperience surely plays a factor. Chelsea have not fielded a player over the age of 27 this season. “We need to learn how to win a game 1-0,” Maresca admitted at the Amex.
But do not expect him to make sweeping changes in search of a solution. While he has rotated heavily in the Conference League, Maresca relies on a core group of players domestically and is reluctant to rip up the game plan when things go wrong.
Maresca faced post-game questions over his like-for-like substitutions at Brighton, saying he did not want to “expose” his side.
He fielded similar queries at Leicester last season, explaining it was “complicated” to change his team during the Championship run-in despite their wavering form.
Maresca prefers to remain loyal to his starters – although he has replaced the struggling Robert Sanchez with Filip Jorgensen as Chelsea’s No 1.
After the defeat to Brighton, the head coach highlighted the importance of Nicolas Jackson – who is expected to be out until April. But he had not scored in eight games before sustaining his injury.
Jackson’s form speaks to a wider issue – the overreliance on Cole Palmer, particularly among Chelsea’s wide players.
In a combined 77 appearances, Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho have scored 14 goals this season. Palmer has matched that total in just 27 games, while none of the trio can better his six assists.
That lack of output has been exposed by Palmer’s four-game dry spell in front of goal – his longest of the season. With a lack of threat from the striker or wide players, opponents can stop Chelsea by stopping Palmer – and it is working.
Perhaps Maresca needs to rethink the use of his full-backs. As he did at Leicester, he often moves them infield – as shown by Malo Gusto’s heat map below.
But the graphic also shows how Gusto’s attacking output has been stifled by his new role. It is a similar story for Reece James and Marc Cucurella, who have recorded fewer assists, completed fewer crosses and take-ons, and created fewer chances per 90 minutes than in previous seasons.
Using his full-backs more conservatively has no doubt helped Maresca improve Chelsea’s defence – at least compared to last season – but it only heightens the burden on Palmer.
But the head coach has total faith in his methods. Even as Leicester began to wobble last season – they lost six in 10 before eventually rallying – he remained defiant, saying: “The moment there is some doubt about the idea, the day after, I will leave.”
A year later, Maresca is starting to face awkward questions again. Avenging Chelsea’s FA Cup exit with a victory – and a performance to match – at Brighton will help him to start answering them.
Watch Brighton vs Chelsea on Friday, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League from 7pm; kick-off 8pm. Stream with NOW.
