Club world champions Chelsea FC have parted ways with their head coach. Enzo Maresca faced several challenges during a difficult December.
New Year’s Eve is unlikely to have been a harmonious affair at Chelsea FC and in the Maresca household. The 2-2 home draw against Bournemouth the night before had been marred by further unrest, including chants against the coach from the stands, and the 45-year-old Italian was suspended very early in the new calendar year.
“Chelsea Football Club and head coach Enzo Maresca are parting ways,” said the club statement on Thursday afternoon, which listed Maresca’s titles and thanked him for “his contribution.” The departing coach remains “an important part of the club’s recent history,” but both he and the club believe that “a change” will now help the latter get back on track, according to the statement, in which no one in charge is quoted.
The draw with the Cherries meant another league game without a win, with the Blues winning only one of their last seven games, having impressed against FC Barcelona (3-0) and Arsenal (1-1) at the end of November. However, a tricky December saw not only a sporting crisis, but above all an atmospheric one.
After the 2-0 win over Everton just under three weeks ago, Maresca spoke of the “worst 48 hours” he had experienced at the club, which he had led to both the Conference League title and the Club World Cup. It was not the first cryptic and telling statement from the man who succeeded Mauricio Pochettino 18 months ago.
In Sunday’s league clash at Manchester City, the already impatient club management will now be without their head coach, who, as the Catalan’s former assistant, is considered a potential future successor to Pep Guardiola at the Skyblues. Meanwhile, Liam Rosenior, coach of Chelsea’s partner club Racing Strasbourg, is being touted as Maresca’s permanent successor at Stamford Bridge.