Enzo Maresca’s fearless Chelsea side take on struggling Man United

Man United and Chelsea face each other this Sunday at Old Trafford, and it id widely expected that the clash will be cinema of the highest order. Let’s look at Chelsea, and specifically at manager Enzo Maresca, who so far has done a remarkable job on and off the pitch.

Fans of the game judge success by what they see on the field, but what happens in those 90 minutes is a result of the work on the training ground. The top managers implement scenarios in training that translate to success in the games. It doesn’t always go as planned, but more frequently than not, a victory or solid performance draws from the lessons applied in good training. As the legendary, Hall of Fame NFL coach Vince Lombardi once said, “practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”

Look at the top four managers in the Premier League right now: Pep Guardiola, Arne Slot, Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery. All of them are obsessed with preparation and detail, and it’s their all-consuming hunt for perfection that separates them from everyone else. Maresca is cut from the same cloth. He is a hungry student of the game.

We know him most recently as a former assistant to Guardiola at Man City who then led Leicester City to a Championship title and promotion last season, but his managerial training began way before that. He was a former multipurpose, traveled midfielder once coached by Carlo Ancelotti, Marcello Lippi and Manuel Pellegrini, who told him he could one day become a great coach.

He wrote a thesis comparing football to chess, as he was enamored with positional play and strategy. And that’s how his philosophy has quickly succeeded at Chelsea, the club with a million chess pieces. In his first season, he is giving structure and strategy to a squad that’s been dysfunctional recently. He has several players who are not just delivering but becoming stars, and one of them in particular — Cole Palmer — is in my opinion the best player in the league. Palmer is their most prized player.

Maresca’s tactics prioritize complete ball domination, but not just for the sake of possession. He wants wave after wave of attacking transition to overwhelm the opponents. There might be some risk as the team can be left exposed, but just like with a Queen’s Gambit in chess (where one side sacrifices a pawn to gain control of the center of the board), the risk can result in reward.

Given the midweek loss to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup, it’s also worth remembering that Chelsea has a young and bloated squad while Maresca continues to rotate players amid a hectic schedule. Overall, though, especially with his current run in the Premier League, the Italian is managing a great season and the risks are paying off.

Credit: ESPN