Football insider and writer David Ornstein of The Athletic runs a weekly Q&A that is exclusive to subscribers of the outlet. In this week's edition, Ornstein fielded a few questions about the future of Chelsea Football Club and in particular the future of Enzo Maresca at Chelsea.
A subscriber asked Ornstein if the club is planning to move on from Maresca if they don't achieve Champions League football this season. Thanks to the updated UEFA coefficient, this means that Chelsea would have to finish in the top five of the Premier League table to be guaranteed a place in the elite competition next season.
Ornstein gave a lengthy response about Chelsea's positive opinion of Maresca and claims that they are not looking to make a change that manager.
Ornstein’s full response, as featured in The Athletic:
"I don’t know of any desire or movements to sack Maresca, Sean. I think Chelsea really like him. Clearly, they want and need to finish in those Champions League qualification spots and that is definitely still possible. That’s all they will be focusing on right now, I imagine, and not embarking upon another managerial change."
"Even speaking hypothetically, I don’t reckon it would be as binary as ‘qualify and he stays, fail to qualify and he goes’. A hell of a lot more goes into these decisions and as far as I know, Chelsea want Maresca to lead them forward."David Ornstein of The Athletic
This response may upset some Chelsea fans that are riding on the Maresca out train because of the club's recent struggles and their poor form against elite competition. These fans have a legitimate gripe as despite the 4th place position, the Blues have been nowhere near the level we have come to expect over the years.
These same fans blame Maresca for the “boring” and “uninspired” football that the Blues have been playing as they believe his possession based strategy does not allow for dynamism or creativity. Anyone who watched the tepid display against Arsenal last weekend would probably agree with that assessment.
However it seems that the Chelsea board believe Maresca is the man to lead the club in this era and they are pleased with the progress he has made. At the very least, the club and team play with a consistent strategy and identity even if it's not the most exciting one.
One thing you can’t fault Maresca for is the injury crisis that the Blues have been hit with as they have been missing several key players during this crucial run. The struggles started before the injury pile-up but the recent rash of injuries to Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke, and others have exacerbated the situation.
Ornstein does believe that Chelsea are looking to improve at striker and that alone could help Maresca’s long term future. All that possession does nothing if there is no one at the tip of the spear to make it count.
A truly world class forward can do just that the way Erling Haaland has done in the past for Pep Guardiola who runs a similar system. Even Nicolas Jackson has been productive as the front man when healthy and he could help turn things around for Maresca and the Blues in the final stretch of the season.