Pep Guardiola once described Enzo Maresca as an "excellent, extremely excellent coach", and almost no one is qualified to underestimate the professional assessment of the Spanish coach. When Pep thinks you are good, it is a "certification" with a special weight.
Therefore, Maresca is likely to still have many choices in the top club group when he decides the time to reappear. However, the word "excellent" also comes with a very high expectation. Looking in comparison - and even more clearly if placed next to Guardiola himself - Maresca's coaching career at the highest level is still in the shaping stage.
However, he left significant marks at Chelsea, with titles such as the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Europa Conference League. This shows the organizational capacity and the ability to optimize resources in a high-pressure environment.
Maresca's win rate at Chelsea, only below 60%, is not too impressive. Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri and Thomas Tuchel all have better odds, while Mauricio Pochettino is lower. However, that is not a disaster either.
However, if separated in the Premier League, his winning rate is only below 50%, with 28 wins after 57 matches. This is quite normal for a coach leading a team in the strong group of the modern Premier League.
Therefore, calling Maresca excellent is somewhat hasty, even when the commenter is Guardiola - who used to work directly with him in the coaching staff. It is the lack of a "common denominator" large enough at the highest level that makes it difficult to judge whether Chelsea is right or wrong when leaving Maresca. In general, it is very difficult to assert how truly excellent he is.
The certainty is that, for those who have no emotional connection with Chelsea, the common reaction is likely just a push-up. This is a common reflex every time a coach and a club "not their own team" go their separate ways.
However, the notion that "the outsiders of Chelsea are just pushing their shoulders" is not entirely convincing. In many historical periods, Chelsea was once a club with a special attraction even to fans who did not support them. Even during Roman Abramovich's time, The Blues still had the appearance of a fascinating project in a very particular sense.
In football, only a few clubs are capable of arousing strong emotions - both positive and negative - from a neutral crowd. Chelsea once belonged to that group. But now, it seems they no longer maintain that "field of thought" as before.
Therefore, Chelsea's departure from their coach is a development that is unlikely to pass in silence. Especially when initial information also shows that Maresca may have had exchanges with other clubs about future prospects. The combination of these factors will almost certainly create many opposing views, even from those who do not have direct contact with Chelsea.
The majority at this time see Chelsea as a team being run by bosses, with central figures like Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali. These are people who seem to be more interested in getting involved in team selection than shaping the vision for a big football club.
In that context, questions surrounding Maresca ultimately no longer create significant weight. To be frank, in many ways, very few people really care.
Because under the current management mechanism, Chelsea is being seen as a team lacking vitality and difficult to create emotions. To put it more simply, they are gradually sliding into a state of "identity blur". It is a club that is increasingly difficult to identify who it is and what it wants to become.
