Latest news with #Enzo Maresca
New York Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Chelsea's positional fluidity stifled PSG, providing Maresca with a blueprint for next season
Not many teams keep a clean sheet against Paris Saint-Germain. In a long, quadruple-winning 2024-25 season, Luis Enrique's side had failed to score on just five occasions before the Club World Cup final, but each of those shut-outs were qualitatively different from the blueprint that Enzo Maresca laid out for Chelsea on Sunday. Advertisement 'The message was quite clear. We won the game in the first 10 minutes,' Maresca told reporters after the 3-0 victory. 'The message before the game was, 'Let them understand we are here to win the game'. It set the tone of the game.' It was a statement that would not be out of place in a Sunday league dressing room, with players imploring their team-mates to 'let them know you are there early' as an act of hostility. But Chelsea's aggression out of possession was a crucial factor in their victory as they snapped into challenges and got tight to their Parisian opponents, particularly in the first half. PSG's fluid positional rotations have the capacity to twist anyone's blood, as so many of Europe's elite sides have found out in recent months. Luis Enrique's side can pull your defensive shape apart to create space with their movement. However, space does not score goals. Chelsea's adaptable defensive performance matched the fluidity that PSG looked to implement in possession. They were aggressive with it, but it was clear that every action they did off the ball, they performed with conviction. This was clear from the opening exchanges, when Trevoh Chalobah tracked midfielder Fabian Ruiz's run across the pitch to receive the ball. By shutting the passing option off at source, Fabian was unable to gain possession as PSG continued to circulate the ball elsewhere. Chelsea were not entirely man-for-man across the pitch, but it was crucial that their centre-backs tracked their runners all the way when they were getting touch-tight to their markers — even if it meant being in unnatural positions at times. Below, you can see Ousmane Dembele dropping as far as left-back to find a pocket of space, but Chalobah follows him all the way to force him into a simple pass, while Chelsea briefly shuffle across to form a temporary back three. There were countless other examples, with Chalobah's centre-back partner Levi Colwill doing exactly the same in stepping out from the defensive line to stop any danger before it grew — dovetailing excellently with midfielder Moises Caicedo, who would drop into Chelsea's back line to plug any gaps opened by his team-mate. This was even more prominent with an example later in the first half, where you would be forgiven for thinking that it was Colwill who was playing as Chelsea's defensive midfielder and Caicedo as left centre-back, based on this image. With the threat that PSG are known to pose in wide areas, similar communication was needed on the flanks. Wingers tracking their runners is a tale as old as time, but the extent to which Marc Cucurella and Pedro Neto shut down the space and stuck to their jobs will have pleased Maresca as much as any of the three goals his team scored. Advertisement With barely four minutes on the clock, Cucurella pushes high to track Desire Doue's run, dropping deep. As Marquinhos winds up to play the ball over the top, the Chelsea player deepest is Neto — who has followed Achraf Hakimi's run back to his own penalty area, nodding down the long ball for Robert Sanchez to collect. Such was Neto's desire to get back defensively, that Chelsea formed a back five at times to block the space. The image below shows the outcome of a strong first 20 minutes out of possession, with no PSG player properly inside Chelsea's compact block as they look to circulate the ball once more. It was not exactly beautiful football at times — with Chelsea comfortable playing the percentage game by whacking it upfield and starting again in the first half — but it was no less effective. It required plenty of communication, lots of pointing and a fair share of shuttle runs, but Chelsea laid the foundation for their performance in the opening stages, just as Maresca declared. In fairness, their out-of-possession approach was equally as impressive in their semi-final clash with Fluminense, but that was based more on high pressing from the midfield and forward line. With the fluidity of PSG's movement, Chelsea were unable to use defensive triggers in the same way to start a coherent press across the whole team. Instead, they opted to embrace the chaos with their front-footed one-v-one battles. As much as anything, Maresca can use Chelsea's Club World Cup final victory as a platform to show how much he can adapt tactically and curate a game plan to beat any side in European football. Such flexibility was the order of the day across the whole tournament, with Maresca using this summer to establish new ideas and strengthen the buy-in he has within the squad. Will they use an identical tactic next season in similar, high-profile games? That remains to be seen, but the defensive discipline that Chelsea showed is what they can carry into the new campaign. Advertisement 'For me, the biggest achievement this season is that exactly one year ago, no one was talking about Chelsea for football (reasons), but talking about the big squad, big money,' Maresca said on the Friday before the final. 'Now, no one is talking about this, but they are talking about the way we play, and the way we win games. This is personally the biggest achievement of this season.' With two trophies won in less than two months, you can understand why there is now greater focus on the club's on-pitch matters.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chelsea Reignite Their Interest In This AC Milan Goalkeeper: Should Maresca Go For Him?
In a recent report, journalists Danny Rust and Dean Jones claimed that Chelsea have reignited their interest in AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan this summer. It has been revealed that the Blues are keen on recruiting the French shot-stopper in this transfer period. Maignan's Impressive Form In Serie A Maignan was a solid presence in between the sticks for the Milan outfit last season when he put in a run of impressive displays for them in Serie A. The French keeper made 53 appearances for AC Milan in the previous campaign, shipping in 59 goals and keeping 15 clean sheets in the process across all competitions. The 30-year-old was one of the top keepers in Serie A football. He was even accurate when distributing possession from the back after making 86.2% of his attempted passes in top-flight football (stats via His current contract at the Italian club will run out at the end of next season. Therefore, the Blues could potentially sign him on a cut-price deal in this summer transfer period. Should Chelsea Boss Enzo Maresca Go For Maignan? Maignan is a good handler of the ball and can use his quick reflexes to make some solid saves at the back for his side. He doesn't mind putting his foot through the ball when being chased down by the opposition attackers. Standing at 1.91m, the French keeper can use his strong frame when coming out to collect loose balls and crosses inside his penalty area. However, it remains to be seen whether he can maintain his good form in the Premier League if Chelsea manage to bring him on board this off-season. We can expect Maignan to add more quality to Enzo Maresca's backline. He is good enough to nail down a regular first-team spot at the West London club next season. At 30, Maignan has still got a few good years left in him to play at his best. Hence, it makes sense for the Blues to go for a keeper of his quality before the end of this transfer window. He might even help the London giants compete across all fronts in the coming years. However, Maignan won't be a long-term fix to Maresca's goalkeeping concerns at Chelsea.
Daily Mail
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Chelsea name £100MILLION asking price for Nicolas Jackson as Serie A giants emerge as contender to sign Blues star
Nicolas Jackson is on AC Milan 's six-man shortlist for a new centre forward and the Italians are confident he can be prised away from Chelsea after falling down the pecking order. New signings Liam Delap and Joao Pedro have leapt ahead of Jackson, who fears he has lost the trust of Blues boss Enzo Maresca. His goals have faded out with only four since the turn of the year and two red cards in his last five appearances, against Newcastle in the Premier League and Flamengo in the Club World Cup. The 24-year-old Senegal international arrived two years ago for £32million from Villarreal. Chelsea insist they are in no rush to sell and value Jackson at £100m despite the search to find an upgrade. Jackson has often impressed with his willingness and attitude. He has scored 30 goals in two years at Stamford Bridge but sometimes lacked the clinical edge to become a force in the Premier League. Milan, who have a history of transfer dealings with Chelsea, want to reinforce up front after Tammy Abraham returned to Roma after a year on loan and has since joined Besiktas on loan, and the release of Luka Jovic. They are thought to have received an indication from intermediaries that Jackson could be tempted into a move but the price is likely to be prohibitive if Chelsea are serious about their £100m valuation.
