Assessing Enzo Maresca’s start to life as Chelsea boss

Enzo Maresca has overseen a very much mixed start to his reign as Chelsea boss, with one win, one draw and one defeat in his first three Premier League games.

He has also seen his side progress to the Conference League despite a nervy second-leg qualifying defeat to Servette.

But how have he and his team fared overall, and what are the positives and negatives from the start to the season?

Missed opportunities

A similar tale for Chelsea over the past two seasons, they have again been guilty of being wasteful under their new boss. The 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace was a prime example, scoring just once in the game but creating five big chances and an expected goals figure of 2.37 according to FotMob. Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson were guilty of spurning massive chances to score and their inability to capitalise while on top ended up costing them.

Chelsea were trying to sign another striker before the transfer deadline but saw their attempts to bring in Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney fail. Nicolas Jackson has scored two goals in his first three games but should have had more based on the chances created for him while his team-mates have also been guilty of not taking their opportunities. How much the manager can really do about this is debatable but it is probably Chelsea’s biggest issue.

Goalkeeping issues

Chelsea have signed an abundance of goalkeepers in the past two years but Robert Sanchez appears to be Maresca’s first choice for now at least. But he has again not been convincing to start the season following a mixed previous campaign, and stats from FBref show Chelsea have conceded 2.4 goals more than they would be expected to based on the chances created against them. This may not all necessarily be down to the goalkeeper, with good finishing and luck also needing to be taken into account. But Sanchez must take his fair share of the blame. He should have kept out Mateo Kovacic’s goal in the opening game and has had some nervy moments since too. An upgrade might be needed for Chelsea to progress, whether that is with someone already at the club or another new signing.

Chelsea could still create, and shoot, more

Chelsea have created enough good opportunities to have scored more this season, and the 6-2 thrashing of Wolves showed what they can do at their most clinical. But for a team that wants to make the top four, they probably still need to create more. Their expected goals figure ranks seventh after the first three games and they have taken just the joint-tenth most amount of shots in the Premier League so far. Obviously that includes a game against reigning champions Manchester City, but Chelsea have the quality of players that can score from difficult chances and are perhaps looking to pass too often rather than than have a go at goal when the opportunity presents itself.

How does he best fit in the abundance of attacking talent?

They might not have signed a new striker but Chelsea still have an abundance of talent in the attacking areas with Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Mykhailo Mudryk and now Jadon Sancho all competing for a starting spot. It can be a positive to have so many attacking options but Maresca is clearly still trying to experiment and work out which combinations work best. Having Palmer at the number 10 position and Madueke out on the right is a partnership which has shown plenty of promise and Neto has shown glimpses of why they signed him but is still getting up to speed.

But if Chelsea are to improve in the final third then getting the right combination of players will be essential. Rotation is always a part of any squad but Maresca needs to work out which forward line gives him the best chance of winning games, while also trying to keep players happy too.

Honesty or ruthlesness?

Maresca has not hid his feelings about some of his players since taking over. He openly told reporters that Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell are not in his plans and also criticised Mudryk for his underwhelming performances. It is a bold strategy and providing a clear direction after a crazy couple of seasons at the club could be what Chelsea need, but equally he does not want to risk causing unrest in his squad. He has been asked often about the challenges of working with such a big squad but insists he has only been working with a smaller squad of the players who are in his plans, with others training separate from the group.

His style can work

Ultimately, though, there are signs that Maresca’s style of play can yield results. Chelsea were excellent in their second-half thrashing of Wolves, keeping the ball brilliantly and then attacking decisively and at pace. He likely wants more control of games with the first half at Wolves also being a prime example of a game being too open, but there are encouraging signs in Maresca’s early days.

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