Chelsea sack alarm bells as Enzo Maresca faces ‘major trouble’ with board
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is repeating the same mistakes he made at Leicester last season as questions increase around his job, warns Kris Boyd.
Maresca must make rapid improvements at Chelsea, or else run the risk of losing his job, Mick Brown has told Football Insider exclusively, but Paul Merson believes he has serious problems ahead of him if certain other teams are successful.
The Italian manager made a flying start to his time as boss at Stamford Bridge, with the Blues looking like early title-contenders.
However, since a 2-1 loss to Fulham on Boxing Day, Chelsea have struggled to keep pace with the teams around them, falling from second, to seventh in the Premier League table.
The results have drawn the ire of the fanbase, with Chelsea supporters protesting against their ownership prior to their match against Southampton (25 February).
Kris Boyd and Paul Merson tell Enzo Maresca Champions League football is crucial
Speaking on Sky Sports Soccer Special, Rangers legend Boyd gave his verdict on Maresca’s future as Chelsea boss, saying (25 February, 7.12 pm):
Boyd: “They need to be careful though with Maresca as well… People are saying in terms of him losing his job.
“There are similarities with what happened last year with Leicester, started like a house on fire then all of a sudden towards the end of the [season] you know, limped over the line.
“He’ll be hoping they can limp over the line and get into the Champions League, there’s no doubt about that…
“There’s definitely something because it’s a mirror image of last year with what happened with Leicester.”
| 2024/25 Premier League standings | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| 1. Liverpool | 27 | +38 | 64 |
| 2. Arsenal | 26 | +28 | 53 |
| 3. Nottingham Forest | 26 | +11 | 47 |
| 4. Man City | 26 | +15 | 44 |
| 5. Newcastle | 26 | +10 | 44 |
| 6. Bournemouth | 26 | +14 | 43 |
| 7. Chelsea | 26 | +12 | 43 |
Former Arsenal man Merson added his opinion by saying: “I think he’ll need to get in the top five. If he doesn’t, especially, and this is no disrespect, especially if a Forest, a Bournemouth, or a Brighton get in, I think he’ll be in major trouble, major trouble.”
“If it ended up like Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, do you know what I mean? Then you’d expect Chelsea.
“But if it ends up Forest and a Brighton, or Forest and a Bournemouth, and no disrespect to them, or even Villa, the board, they won’t be happy with that, there’s no way they’ll be happy with that.”
Maresca led Leicester to a first-placed finish in the Championship, finishing on 97 points, just one point ahead of Ipswich.
However, the Foxes lost seven of their final 15 matches in the England’s second tier, and were fortunate that they had opened up enough of a gap between themselves and their rivals.
A comfortable 4-0 win against the Saints is likely to alleviate some pressure on Maresca, but the Italian will once again be scrutinised when the Blues face FC Copenhagen in their Conference League match-up on 6 March.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca’s squad is too big to handle
Maresca came under fire from Chelsea fans for his team selection against Southampton, and the Italian boss is struggling to deal with a bloated squad.
The former Leicester manager has used a whole host of combinations in defence and attack, with Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer in midfield, seemingly the only settled group.
Glenn Hoddle suggested that Maresca should stick with one starting XI, however the Italian has the difficult job of keeping happy a larger than average squad, with many players on high wages.