Enzo Maresca was reportedly told he was in no danger of being sacked during what he described as his ‘worst 48 hours at Chelsea’.
On New Year’s Day, Maresca stunningly left his role as Chelsea head coach, with the Blues now looking for their seventh manager since Todd Boehly took over the club in 2022.
Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior is the clear frontrunner, while Under-21s boss Calum McFarlane will be in the dugout for Sunday’s big game at Manchester City.
Maresca’s departure would have been unthinkable just a month ago as the Italian had enjoyed a successful first year-and-a-half at Stamford Bridge, notably winning the Club World Cup and Conference League.
It all began to publicly unravel on December 13 when, following a 2-0 win over Everton, Maresca shockingly stated: ‘Since I joined the club, the last 48 hours have been the worst because many people didn’t support us.
‘The way the players want to learn has been fantastic and this is the reason why I praise them – because with so many problems, they are doing very well after a complicated week.
‘Worst 48 hours since I joined the club because people didn’t support me and the team.’
It quickly became clear that Maresca was referring to Chelsea’s hierarchy and from that point the relationship between the head coach and the board deteriorated beyond repair.
Many have speculated what could have been said and done behind closed doors to prompt these comments, but reports claim that club officials were nothing but supportive toward the 45-year-old.
The Athletic report that in the days following the 2-1 Champions League defeat at Atalanta on December 9, their fourth win-less game in a row, Maresca expressed ‘concerns’ to Chelsea’s hierarchy.
It is said they responded by giving the head coach a ‘vote of confidence’ and ‘assured him his job was not at risk’.
This would appear to completely contradict Maresca’s comments that he had not been backed by the board during that week, but the exact truth of the matter may never be revealed.
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In any case, the Chelsea players were left ‘surprised’ and ‘upset’ by the head coach’s departure, according to Pedro Neto.
‘Of course, we didn’t have the idea that [Maresca would leave] but we were all upset,’ the winger told Sky Sports.
‘And when I heard the news in the beginning, to be honest, I was a little bit surprised because the manager did very good for us.
‘He did an unbelievable season last year and he was doing a good season this year. Of course, we wanted to do better, we always want to do better.’
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