How Enzo brought calm to the chaos at Chelsea
The London Standard|December 05, 2024
New boss has improved his players and created a team with a clear identity, just don't let him hear you call them title contenders
MALIK OUZIA
How Enzo brought calm to the chaos at Chelsea

Enzo Maresca’s mind is not for changing. His Chelsea team may be ahead of schedule, exceeding all preseason expectations, including his own. They may have emerged from this midweek’s fixtures closer than anyone to leaders Liverpool and ahead of champions Manchester City with a third of the season gone. They may have lost only twice, against that pair, and held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw. But what they are not, repeat (and Maresca has) NOT, are title contenders.

Still, there is a compliment in being forced to make the denial. Maresca is probably right. It probably is too soon for the Premier League’s youngest team to compete to win it. But of the predicted top-four players, Chelsea do look the most complete, not inexplicably given their recent spending, but still surprisingly so in the context of what came before. The chaos of two seasons at Stamford Bridge has been replaced by an almost eerie stability. The transition coincided with Maresca’s summer arrival but is a product, too, of a longer-term strategy, one that at times looked ill-defined, but now has begun to bear fruit. The Billion-Pound Bottlejobs are proving their worth.

Energy and style

You have to go back to 2016, Steve Bruce and Hull City for the last time a coach led his team to Championship promotion, then immediately walked away, and if that is not the sexiest precedent, then nor, really, is it one at all. Where Bruce spent the next few months out of work, Maresca jumped straight from Leicester into one of the most high-profile jobs in English football, having not managed in any top-flight division before.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE LONDON STANDARDView all
Kylie Minogue loves the bar at Louie, startling Beefeaters and snooping in The Conran Shop
The London Standard

Kylie Minogue loves the bar at Louie, startling Beefeaters and snooping in The Conran Shop

Currently it’s largely suitcase-based as I’ve been doing so much travel for work, but Melbourne, Australia, is home.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 12, 2024
Are Spurs willing to invest what it takes to win trophies?
The London Standard

Are Spurs willing to invest what it takes to win trophies?

Criticism of the manager for the club's struggles misses the point-whatever he says, he's not been given a squad ready to push for the biggest honours

time-read
3 mins  |
December 12, 2024
Crowning glory awaits Britain's golden girl
The London Standard

Crowning glory awaits Britain's golden girl

Odds-on favourite to win BBC Sports Personality, Keely Hodgkinson never doubted she was ready to conquer the world

time-read
6 mins  |
December 12, 2024
Residents at war over £10 billion 'Shanghai-style' Earl's Court plan
The London Standard

Residents at war over £10 billion 'Shanghai-style' Earl's Court plan

Controversial proposals are causing a huge furore in west London

time-read
4 mins  |
December 12, 2024
The secrets of selling the capital's £40m homes
The London Standard

The secrets of selling the capital's £40m homes

Armed security, NDAs, a gold temple...inside the world of ultra high-end property deals

time-read
4 mins  |
December 12, 2024
Jenny Packham on Amsterdam why is truly magical at Christmas time
The London Standard

Jenny Packham on Amsterdam why is truly magical at Christmas time

The designer gets lost in the cobbled streets and is entranced by the city’s twinkling lights and unique spirit

time-read
3 mins  |
December 12, 2024
Alfies Antique Market
The London Standard

Alfies Antique Market

Here is a place to blindly lose oneself in a labyrinth of staircases and thresholds.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 12, 2024
Decline and fall: what comes after peak wellness?
The London Standard

Decline and fall: what comes after peak wellness?

The social elite are obsessed with devices that track their health but the backlash is building

time-read
2 mins  |
December 12, 2024
The newest AI can arrange your holiday- but will it be a strictly woke one?
The London Standard

The newest AI can arrange your holiday- but will it be a strictly woke one?

A lightning-quick artificial megabrain with an appetite for social justice? WILLIAM HOSIE has a chat with Claude Al

time-read
4 mins  |
December 12, 2024
'Fame just isn't healthy
The London Standard

'Fame just isn't healthy

Mercury Prize-winning band English Teacher on the pressure of success, trying not to burn out and the challenges black women face in indie music

time-read
5 mins  |
December 12, 2024