3. Enzo Maresca’s Tactics Under Scrutiny
On Sunday, Manchester City suffered a heavy defeat against Arsenal. Yet just a week earlier, Chelsea made that same City side, who had won only five games since October, look like a dominant force. A large part of that was down to Maresca’s tactical approach.
His insistence on playing a high defensive line allowed City to come back and score despite Chelsea taking the lead in the third minute. His lack of adaptability has been a recurring issue. It’s not even that he cannot adjust. In the matches before the draw against Everton, he made in-game tweaks when needed that improved Chelsea’s performance.
However, he remains stubborn in certain areas, particularly in his reluctance to utilize full-backs effectively, a fundamental aspect of modern football that nearly every top manager exploits.
This tactical rigidity is also affecting Chelsea’s wingers, who lack proper cover. Maresca needs to evolve rather than persist with a failing approach, expecting different results.