Andoni Iraola does not want automatons. If space is there to be attacked, Bournemouth’s manager asks his players to be bold and seize the initiative. It is about having faith in creative instincts, throwing off the shackles as the shift away from Pep Guardiola’s positional football gathers pace. It would be unlike Iraola to threaten to substitute a goalkeeper for kicking long or a midfielder for trying a risky pass when a safer ball would allow his team to maintain their shape.
Enzo Maresca sees the game differently. Chelsea’s head coach is from the Guardiola school and has built his tactical vision around carefully hoarding possession, which leaves little room for improvisation and is contributing heavily to the sullen atmosphere at Stamford Bridge. “The people have to understand this is our way,” Maresca has said of the lukewarm reaction to his more sedate style. “This is the way we’re going to play.”
There are similarities with Maurizio Sarri’s season at Chelsea six years ago. The Italian thumped Arsenal in the Europa League final and finished third in the Premier League but matchgoing fans never warmed to him. There were regular chants against Sarriball, which come to mind now Maresca is facing accusations that his approach comes at the cost of imagination and expression.
Cole Palmer, a maverick at his best when playing off the cuff, has gone nine games without a goal before the second leg of the Europa Conference League tie against FC Copenhagen on Thursday night. The mood was restless during Chelsea’s 1-0 win against Leicester on Sunday. There were boos when Enzo Fernández passed backwards at 0-0. It was not lost on Maresca. He gestured angrily for fans to be more supportive when Marc Cucurella scored the winner a few minutes later.
The disconnect is clear. Maresca was happy to talk later about his interaction with the crowd. He is not going to change. He pointed to the complexities of penetrating Leicester’s back five and called for fans to play their part in helping their young side to qualify for the Champions League. “When a team creates the amount of chances we create today, you have to be happy,” Maresca said. “If you think that football is just a PlayStation and you win easy, no way.”
As for Fernández’s passing? “The good thing is that Fernández knows that if he doesn’t play back, I will change him,” said Maresca, whose comments were posted on social media and used as evidence that he is turning his players into robots without individual freedom.
Some fear that this kind of football is becoming outdated. Iraola has talked about telling Bournemouth’s players to make decisions for themselves in attack. Spain won the European Championship by building around two devastating wingers. Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain were thrillingly direct and instinctive in their Champions League win against Liverpool; they were almost a throwback to a time when players were not carrying around so many tactical instructions.
Chelsea go the other way. They seem reluctant to drive forward when the opposition are out of shape. They were frustrating to watch during last week’s first leg against Copenhagen, even though they ground out a 2-1 win. Perhaps it is not a surprise that the atmosphere is nonexistent when the football is so dull. Chelsea’s full-backs rarely make overlapping runs. The team have developed control since Maresca replaced Mauricio Pochettino last summer but play with little fantasy. Fans must hope this is a question of confidence after a dip in form since Christmas. This is a process. Chelsea have a young side and the benefits of Maresca’s coaching could still become clear.
“Football always evolves,” Maresca said on Wednesday. “I think it is clear we try to be aggressive off the ball and try to control on the ball. We are the second or third best attacking team in the Premier League, so we are scoring lots of goals.”
It is perhaps instructive that Chelsea have the second-highest xG in the league, according to Opta, and have underperformed it by 3.72 goals, which suggests their chance creation is on the right track. Against that, the dynamism of their football has regressed since the first half of the season.
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There are times when it seems like Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital may have misjudged Chelsea’s history when they turned to Maresca. Chelsea’s fans have never really taken to process‑driven managers. They disliked Graham Potter and Sarri; they loved the ruthlessness of Thomas Tuchel, José Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
The irony is that, although Tuchel, Mourinho and Conte produced occasional spells of devastating attacking football, they are not exactly tactical romantics. The difference is that they were proven winners. Trophies gave Mourinho leeway to criticise the atmosphere at home games.
That may make Chelsea fans seem entitled. Their reaction to a few barren years? Protest against the owners and moan during games. But other dynamics are at play. This is not just about results. Many fans say they feel no connection with the club and squad. They worry about the Americanisation of the ground. The pre-match DJ goes down badly and members struggle to get tickets. It is not a good look for Boehly to be a co-owner of Vivid Seats, a website selling tickets to the club’s games and other Premier League matches to foreign tourists.
There is a lack of trust. It subsides when results pick up but surfaces whenever there is a slump. Maresca is more a symptom than the cause of the unrest. Quality football provides a distraction from wider problems. The people who put Maresca in charge will have questions to answer if he fails but there is nothing easier to change than the manager. Maresca has to find a way to silence his critics and prove that his football can make some noise.
