Glenn Hoddle on Enzo Maresca and Chelsea: ‘You have to cut the negative noise out'

New York Times

20-02-2025

Glenn Hoddle knows what Enzo Maresca is going through as Chelsea's head coach.
Maresca is coming under heavy criticism from Chelsea supporters during his first season in charge at Stamford Bridge — just as Hoddle endured 32 years ago.
Their situations are not identical — Hoddle's Chelsea squad did not have the hundreds of millions spent on it that Maresca's has — but, even though a lot of time separates the two eras, there are a lot of similarities. Both men enjoyed successful playing careers (Maresca won five major trophies at Juventus and Sevilla, Hoddle claimed four at Tottenham and Monaco). They arrived at Chelsea having just won promotion from the Championship with a less fashionable team and little other managerial experience to call upon. In Hoddle's case, he had spent two years at Swindon Town, whereas Maresca lasted only 14 games at Parma in 2021 before making his mark at Leicester City in 2023-24.
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Hoddle wanted Chelsea to play with three at the back; Maresca asks his men to go to three at the back when they are in possession. After making a bright start, Hoddle went on a run of nine defeats in 11 league games to put the club in a relegation battle and the fans got on his back. Maresca is beginning to get similar treatment after collecting only nine points from as many games. While Chelsea's position is not quite as dire, the Italian's bad run has still proved costly. Chelsea have dropped from second to sixth in the table and are now just six points clear of Brighton in 10th.
If Maresca is looking for a source of comfort right now, then Hoddle might provide some of it. The former England midfielder turned around the negative momentum to get Chelsea to a mid-table finish and, more impressively, the 1994 FA Cup final. It was their first appearance in the FA Cup final for 24 years and there was an open-top parade the following day to celebrate the achievement, despite losing to Manchester United at Wembley. The crowd remained on Hoddle's side until he left to take over the national team in 1996.
Hoddle tells The Athletic: 'As a manager, you have to cut out that negative noise from the outside. I had to do it when I was at Chelsea. I remember going through it myself because of my Tottenham background. I will never forget walking out after Chelsea lost 3-1 at Southampton on December 27 to drop to second bottom in the table and we had Newcastle the next day who were near the top of the league. We got on the bus and were getting loads of abuse from Chelsea fans. They were calling me all sorts of things and saying, 'Why don't you piss off back to Tottenham?'.
'It is not a nice situation. The pressure was on. But we beat Newcastle and it changed our season. You just have to stay focused on what your beliefs are. If you start doubting what you are doing, you are history, you are gone.
'Maresca will be hearing it (the criticism), but looking at him as a character, he can ignore it. Being a former player helps you cope with that, it teaches you to have no self-doubt. You have ups and downs as a player, injuries, bad form, and that is the life of a manager, too. You learn to respond to that pressure, it is in your DNA. But when things are not going great, that is when you really do your job.'
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Hoddle tweaked his tactics to go with four at the back and a diamond midfield to improve Chelsea's fortunes. Maresca has shown little sign of abandoning how he sets up his team, hardly enhancing his popularity.
Chelsea's form has also not been helped by a run of injuries to key players over the past two months. Maresca is without Nicolas Jackson, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, Noni Madueke, Benoit Badiashile, Marc Guiu and Mykhailo Mudryk (suspended).
Maresca is still changing his first XI regularly despite his diminished options and Hoddle believes this has to stop. 'Chelsea went to another level and suddenly something has happened, something has gone,' said Hoddle, who now works as a pundit on TNT Sports — where Chelsea's game against Southampton will be broadcast, along with all of the fixtures from matchday 27 of the Premier League. 'There is a frailty there and injuries, too, but now is the time for a settled side.
'They need the same team week in, week out, so they can understand how to play together. He just needs to choose who it is. If Chelsea lose the first one, just go again. Not enough teams do that. If they get a couple of good results, the team will grow and then the players from the bench know they have to do more to break into the XI.
'Here's just one example. Reece James has had to be protected a little as he comes back from an injury. But now he has played a few games, if he is the one you want, play him for the next five games. The same goes for Marc Cucurella on the other side. Maresca has options, but don't tinker with it, just play your strongest team and they can get back to where they were.'
Cole Palmer is on his longest run without a goal or assist (five games) since joining Chelsea in 2023. His numbers for this season are still excellent, but some of the spark has gone from his displays in recent weeks as Maresca tries to find a solution for Jackson's absence. During the 3-0 defeat at Brighton last week, Palmer was often the furthest man forward, rather than Christopher Nkunku.
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Hoddle is convinced Palmer will soon come good again but added: 'He has to play as a No 10 (attacking midfielder). Sometimes the higher up the pitch you go, the less ball you will get. You will be marked tight, so he is going to come deep to get it.
'Cole is the game-changer for Chelsea. If he scores one, he will be back on track. He has to play what I call the arc, to work across the width of the area. Things happen when he is on the ball.
'I would be saying to Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, 'Just give him the ball'. If Chelsea get him on the ball 90 per cent more than they are doing right now, he will make the difference. He will turn it around.
'But someone else has got to step up, too, to take that pressure. That's what has been difficult for him. It is hard to keep playing to that level of excellence, to always be the saviour, the one that scores or assists. It's impossible. So when he does have a blip like he is maybe having now, someone else has to take over.'
So who does Hoddle see as needing to do that? France forward Nkunku, who has scored just twice in 21 league appearances this season, is unsurprisingly one of them. But Hoddle is also a big admirer of Pedro Neto and wants to see more from the winger signed from Wolves for £51.4million last summer.
'Neto is a top player,' he says. 'He can play on the left side, but he is lethal coming onto his left foot from the right. If he knows he is in the team every week, you will see him grow into the player he was at Wolves. We have seen a few big moments, but he has not been consistent because he has been in and out of the side. Give him the shirt and let him play on the right flank.
'Nkunku now has to become a striker, one looking to go in behind the centre-backs. I don't want him drifting anywhere else to get the ball. Play him in between the 18-yard box and if any cross comes in, he has to be in a position to be on the end of it. That will give Palmer a bit more space anyway because the centre-backs will have to drop off.
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'Maresca has done a really good job. To have that number of players on taking over, to filter out what he had to very quickly, to do what he felt was right for his team and to keep the camp buying into what he is doing, he has done very well.
'This Chelsea side are not in a relegation fight like mine was. They are on the tipping point of going up the table again. They just need a striker who can put the ball in the back of the net and not rely on Cole Palmer. If they score from a few other areas, players like Nkunku, then it can all turn.'