Johnny Phillips: Enzo Marseca needs to get a grip on Chelsea’s issues

Enzo Maresca’s side drew 2-2 with Wrexham and lost 4-1 against Celtic recently.

They did bounce back to beat Mexican champions Club America on Thursday evening in Atlanta, but it has been a summer of change for the Blues.

It can feel like every summer involves upheaval at a club where there has been such a problematic turnover of managers in recent years.

“We are still confusing things on the ball and off the ball,” Maresca admitted after that Celtic defeat.

“It is normal in this moment when we are trying to do something new.”

That was a nod to the playing out from the back style which the former Leicester head coach is wedded to.

Last season, in the Championship, it sometimes caused Leicester issues but the runaway Champions were never genuinely punished for conceding possession close to goal.

In the Premier League it will be a different matter.

Chelsea fans may not have the patience to embrace another new style, with yet more new players and another new manager.

Maresca is the sixth incumbent to take on the head coach role at Stamford Bridge, including temporary appointments, since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took control of the club just a couple of years ago. It is a concerning trend.

In May it looked as if Chelsea were finally getting somewhere when they ended the season with five wins in succession. It appeared that some cohesion was forming on the pitch and a group of expensive individuals were finally starting to look like a team.

Then came the axe for Mauricio Pochettino.

Maresca is unproven in the Premier League, but he cut a very impressive figure at Leicester and the East Midlands club were worthy winners of a very competitive Championship where there was as much quality at the top as in any season in memory.

He is something of a disciple of Pep Guardiola and it will be fascinating to see how quickly he can imprint his style on a Chelsea team that is far from united.

It has all the hallmarks of a good appointment, but we have been here before.

It has been a tough summer off the pitch for the new head coach, with the furore over Enzo Fernandez’s racist chanting while away on international duty with

Argentina.

It has, quite understandably, caused some unrest in the dressing room. It would be unthinkable for Chelsea to go into the season with the matter not resolved and all the players singing from the same hymn sheet.

Chelsea face City again on the opening weekend of the season. It represents a tough start for Maresca, who took the Championship by storm with 13 wins from the opening 14 games.

There will be no repeat in the Premier League.

Maresca needs to integrate the new signings as quickly as possible. Marc Guiu’s arrival from Barcelona appears to be garnering most excitement in the stands. He has looked impressive so far and at just 18 he represents a player for the future, arriving on a five-year

deal.

Keirnan Dewsbury-Hall has also signed a five-year contract. He was the stand-out player in the Championship last season and is familiar with Maresca’s methods already.

Tosin Adarabioyo’s arrival from neighbours Fulham has not got the pulses racing among the support and it is imperative that the defence is strengthened further before the new season, particularly with Trevoh Chalobah surely set to move on.

Maresca’s decision to leave the academy graduate out of the touring party to the USA has drawn criticism from some sections of the fanbase.

The arrival of Danish goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen for £20million from Villareal suggests Maresca may well be bringing the No.1 position under more scrutiny.

Robert Sanchez was signed last summer for £25m but he lost his place midway through last season to Djordje Petrovic. Now, another change in goal looks on the cards.

So, there will be much work to do and plenty of challenges to overcome between now and the season’s opener in a fortnight’s time.

Never a predictable moment in the post-Abramovich Chelsea era and that trend looks set to continue this season.