Fans at Stamford Bridge rebel as Maresca sticks with his most unpopular decision – Chelsea Lookback | OneFootball

A look back at this time a year ago shows it was when tensions were really coming to the surface between Enzo Maresca and the fans at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues had dropped points in a number of games since Boxing Day, and results were at their worst in the whole Maresca era. Yet the Italian was persisting with making his team play out from the back. The crowd at Stamford Bridge hated it, and in a game at 0-0 against Southampton there was booing of their own players:

“Chelsea’s Matthew Harding End are jeering the players for their slow playing out from the back style,” the BBC’s Nizaar Kinsella noted at the time.

“Goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen has been just standing on the ball for periods of 10/30 seconds on multiple occasions. That style is not this club’s culture.”

Maresca finally concedes on sticking point

Enzo Maresca speaks after Chelsea’s win over Southampton.

In the end, Maresca did relent a little on the playing out from the back philosophy. He allowed his goalkeepers to kick long a little more often, the whole defence looked more comfortable, results improved, and Chelsea made it into the Champions League.

However the fundamental differences between his ideas and the fans were never really resolved. He was popular when he had good results, but his philosophy and personality never clicked with supporters. When results turned bad again in the winter, he didn’t survive.

In other news…

Estevao’s absence against Burnley felt like it really hurt Chelsea, who missed his creativity and threat in the final third. We hope he’s back soon.

Chelsea are proving better against teams who have more of the ball, and the stats show it pretty starkly. It’s a problem Liam Rosenior needs to fix.

Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips’ SPTC podcast here: