'Worst 48 hours' and Man City interest: The week that changes everything for Enzo Maresca at Chelsea

Cameron Smith

• 19 Dec 2025 12:30 GMT
• 7 min read

Analysis

Enzo Maresca’s career as Chelsea head coach has been fairly turbulent. In total, he’s used 50 different players, he’s already managed a whopping 89 matches, amid an extremely packed schedule, and he has faced constant questions over his style of play.

He also guided the Blues back into the Champions League after a two-year hiatus, claimed the Europa Conference League trophy and guided them to Club World Cup glory last season.

But, there have always been murmurings of discontent. Fans have expressed frustration at results against lesser opposition throughout his tenure, while the club’s hierarchy have been reluctant to listen to his transfer requests.

For example, his demand for the club to sign a new centre-back following Levi Colwill’s anterior cruciate ligament injury in August fell on deaf ears.

Over the past seven days, things have reached boiling point and Maresca’s future at Stamford Bridge appears to be hanging by a thread. So, how did we get here?

Defeats to Leeds and Atalanta sandwiched by Bournemouth draw

After a 3-0 thumping of Barcelona and a valiant 10-man performance in a 1-1 draw with Arsenal, Maresca was being lauded from all angles. But, Chelsea have typically performed well against better opponents during his tenure, whereas their issues have largely come when forced to break down a deep block or even simply whenever they have faced a back-five system.

Against Leeds United, Chelsea were bullied and outclassed, with defender Tosin Adarabioyo bearing the brunt of the blame following a poor performance at centre-back.

After a 0-0 draw with Bournemouth on 6 December, Chelsea were on the road again - this time in the Champions League versus Atalanta. Despite going 1-0 up through Joao Pedro, the Blues collapsed in the second-half and fell to a 2-1 defeat.

Yet again, Chelsea’s team wasn’t quite at full strength, with Maresca almost duty-bound to rotate his squad due to the plethora of options at his disposal and the number of injury-prone stars in his team.

However, the fact of the matter is that Chelsea’s back-up options simply aren’t good enough. That was also seen in their narrow 3-1 victory over Cardiff in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, with Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto required to save the day off the bench.

The most notable weakness of Chelsea’s second-string team is in central defence. The Blues have conceded just two goals in 720 minutes of action since the start of November when Trevoh Chalobah has been on the pitch at centre-back. The first was Mikel Merino’s header when Chelsea had 10-men versus Arsenal and the second was Noah Okafor’s tap-in for Leeds following a huge individual blunder from Tosin.

By comparison, they have conceded six times in four games during the same time frame whenever either Tosin or Benoit Badiashile have been deployed in central defence. It’s a major problem that could’ve been fixed if Chelsea had signed a new centre-back like Maresca asked this summer.

‘Worst 48 hours’

In response to the criticism he received after losses to Leeds and Atalanta, Maresca decided to drop a bombshell during his post-match press conference after his side’s 2-0 victory over Everton on Saturday.

After being asked about Malo Gusto’s performance, who had been criticised after coming on as a No.10 in the defeat to Atalanta, Maresca told reporters: “The effort, the open mind, the way they want to learn has been fantastic and this is the reason why I praise the players because with so many problems, they are doing very well after a complicated week.

"Since I joined the club, the last 48 hours have been the worst 48 hours since I joined the club because many people didn't support us.”

Pressed if he was specifically referring to the fans, Maresca replied: “Worst 48 hours since I joined the club because people didn't support me and the team. I love the fans and we are very happy with the fans.”

It has been widely reported that these comments were aimed at the Chelsea hierarchy, with the Blues boss feeling a lack of support from those above him.

It’s claimed that Maresca has been told to rotate his squad in order to keep players happy, but he then feels scapegoated whenever this backfires and results don’t go as planned.

Man City interest

Amid a brewing storm at Stamford Bridge, The Athletic’s David Ornstein published a blockbuster exclusive confirming that Maresca is on Manchester City’s shortlist of potential replacements for Pep Guardiola.

The Spaniard’s current deal at the Etihad Stadium isn’t due to expire until 2027, but there is a feeling that he could depart next summer and Man City are eyeing a move for Maresca as his successor.

The Chelsea boss worked as Man City’s U23 coach during the 2020-21 season, while he then returned to the club to be Guardiola’s assistant manager for their treble-winning campaign in 2022-23.

He still has admirers at the Etihad Stadium and his agent Jorge Mendes has a close relationship with new Man City sporting director Hugo Viana, which has added further fuel to rumours that Maresca could be set to join the eight-time Premier League champions.

It’s hard to know for certain, but it’s definitely within the realms of possibility that Maresca, fully aware of interest from his former club, has delivered a hidden ultimatum to the Chelsea hierarchy: ‘Back me in the market and allow me to have more control at the club, or sack me due to our growing feud and I’ll join Man City.’

Of course, that’s conjecture, but the timing of Maresca’s comments and the breaking news of Man City’s eagerness to bring him back to the club appears far too convenient to be a coincidence.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s clash against Newcastle on Saturday, Maresca emphatically ruled out the possibility of leaving Stamford Bridge, but questions over his future are expected to dominate the headlines for a little while longer.

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