Enzo Maresca is fighting to save his Chelsea job after his side were booed out of Stamford Bridge despite progressing to the Conference League semi-final stage.
On Thursday evening, the Blues managed to survive a scare to reach their first European semi-final of the BlueCo era. Thanks to a 3-0 first-leg lead, Chelsea managed to overcome Polish giants Legia Warsaw despite losing 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.
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The mood around Chelsea is in the gutter. Only 29,027 people turned up at the 40,000-capacity stadium to watch the match, and Legia’s sizeable away contingent outsang the home support.
Chelsea have been in dire form in recent months, and it showed – on and off the pitch. Despite fielding a starting XI with Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer, Jadon Sancho, Reece James and Marc Cucurella, the Blues succumbed to a shock defeat.
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Maresca fighting for his job
Chelsea were booed off the pitch after the match despite progressing, and it is looking like Enzo Maresca may be fighting a losing battle. Ahead of the game, the Italian asked for ‘trust’ from the supporters, but that backing is nowhere to be found.
Chelsea fans jeered the team after their 2-2 draw with Ipswich at the weekend, and they are increasingly losing patience with Maresca and his style of football, which the 45-year-old has already admitted he is incapable of switching up.
“I am not able to do a different style,” he said ahead of the Legia return leg. It was a damning admission that could doom Maresca’s Chelsea career.
He was hired to implement an exciting, modern and ‘progressive’ style of football, yet the more Maresca has been able to stamp his authority on the team, the worse they have become.
Chelsea were purring at the start of the season when they still displayed elements of the simplicity and directness of Mauricio Pochettino’s style. This exuberance and effervescence have given way to drabness.
In the space of just a few months, Maresca has gone from being serenaded with chants of ‘we’ve got our Chelsea back’ to being booed out of town.
He is losing the support of the fanbase and if results, particularly in the Premier League, don’t improve, he will also lose the support of the Chelsea hierarchy.
Winning the Conference League will mean next to nothing if Chelsea fail to qualify for the Champions League. They have slipped down to sixth in the table, and Maresca is actually fighting for his job now.
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