Chelsea are currently preparing for the next season in the United States. They got their first victory under their new manager this week. Chelsea defeated Club America in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. They were able to score three goals and keep a clean sheet. Before this Chelsea were unable to emerge victorious in their opening two pre-season matches. Enzo Maresca has finally achieved a win in their pre-season games and got a new nickname. He had his say about the current process at Chelsea.
Enzo Maresca was part of non-playing staff at Serie B club Ascoli. In 2020, he joined Manchester City as a manager of their Elite Development Squad. He helped City win the Premier League 2 title. He moved to Serie A side Parma in 2021. However he was quickly sacked. He rejoined Manchester City in June 2022. Maresca worked as assistant manager to Pep Guardiola and helped City win treble.
In June 2023, he was made the manager of Leicester City who were relegated. Maresca did a very good job with Leicester and brought them back to Premier League. In addition, they became Championship champions and Maresca was getting a lot of attention. Chelsea decided to sign Maresca after parting ways with Mauricio Pochettino. Recently Maresca has earned a new nickname ‘Diet Pep’ after the pre-season games of Chelsea.
Enzo Maresca talks about their pre-season games
Enzo Maresca talked about his tactics behind the game to The Athletic. He said that they build the possesion from behind. When Chelsea do not have ball, they press strong and man-to-man. Maresca thinks this is a big chance to Chelsea when compared to last season.
Maresca said that they had a option to sit back, wait and not take risk against Celtic. But he decided to take risks and go in the way they want. The main aim of pre-season games is to prepare for the next season. Later, Maresca said the club is on the right path. He added, it may look that they are struggling, but that is same for everyone when there is change. He said that their main aim is to reach to the level of Manchester City.
When compared with Manchester City, Maresca said that he does not want to play same as Guardiola. He thinks its best to play how Chelsea want now. He admitted that he admires Pep and his system. In addition, Maresca even praised Pep for helping him so much. He said that when he was 28 or 29 years old, they faced Barcelona. That moment he realised that playing against Pep is not same as playing against anyone else. Maresca was very impressed by Pep’s style and started working on it ever since.
Pep Guardiola talks about ‘Diet Pep’
Chelsea and Manchester City both are busy in their pre-season games. During these pre-season games, Enzo Maresca has been called as Diet Pep. Pep Guardiola was asked about what he thinks about this nickname. Guardiola was confused and asked his press officer the meaning of Diet. The officer explained Guardiola that Diet means like you but not exactly you. Guardiola then joked that it is because of their similar hairstyle and beard.
Guardiola then said that he is very happy for Maresca and recalled their treble winning season. He said that Maresca ans his family are lovely persons. Pep praised Maresca for the job he did at Leicester. He said that he is now in one of the top five or top six teams in England and wished him the best for the future. To conclude, Guardiola said that Maresca believes in what he does and this will lead him to success sooner or late.
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