Spectacular sprint

When a group of American and Swiss international investors, represented by billionaire Todd Boehly, bought Chelsea , the club went through difficult years and constantly changed coaches.

Last summer, Boehly decided to choose Enzo Marescas, who had little top-level coaching experience, to take over the team.

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Chelsea won a ticket to the Champions League. Photo: The Guardian

Apart from his short stint at Parma and helping Leicester move from the Championship to the Premier League, he is best known for his role as Pep Guardiola's assistant during Man City's historic 2022/23 season – with the treble.

Enzo Maresca takes over from four different managers in two years, following Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and Mauricio Pochettino. Bruno Saltor is also in charge for one match.

From the start, Maresca was generous in rebuilding Chelsea. Many of Boehly's expensive signings could be set aside when they did not fit his tactics.

Not everyone in the dressing room is behind Maresca, while just a few bad results and the former Italian midfielder is immediately criticized.

There were even times during the season when those who doubted Maresca's way of working sent him the message: "get lost."

Despite the criticism, Maresca focused on work. With abundant resources, he built different squads to target the top 4 Premier League (at the end of the season, English football had an additional 5th Champions League spot from UEFA), as well as compete for the Conference League .

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Colwill scores for Chelsea at Nottingham. Photo: The Guardian

Chelsea played football with a distinct style and efficiency, at least compared to previous terms.

In round 38 of the 2024/25 Premier League, in the thrilling battle for a ticket to the Champions League, The Blues completed their goal by winning 1-0 at the phenomenal Nottingham Forest stadium, thanks to the only goal by Levi Colwill.

In the last 9 rounds, Chelsea only lost 1. The team at Stamford Bridge had a spectacular sprint to step into the most prestigious playground in Europe.

Confident to play Conference League final

“I never doubted the players. The doubt came from outside,” Maresca said after the win at the City Ground.

He publicly responded to the criticism: “There are people who always think they are right, always think we are too young, not good enough... They say we cannot win on this field because we are too young, inexperienced. Unfortunately for them, they are all wrong.”

The Italian coach had a special season when he built Chelsea into the youngest squad in Premier League history, with an average age of 24 years and 36 days.

Maresca repeated the line that people used to criticize him: “For those who think they know everything and are always right, what do they say in England? Well, go away. The players deserve respect. Their efforts are amazing.”

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Maresca celebrates victory with Boehly. Photo: PA

With 43 goals conceded, Maresca's Chelsea are in the top three defensively. Only Arsenal (34) and champions Liverpool (41) have conceded fewer.

After 2 seasons of absence, next season Chelsea returns to the prestigious Champions League. Surely Maresca will be provided with more big contracts.

He likes Rodrygo, Joao Pedro for attack, Jorrel Hato to strengthen the defence; as well as Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho from rivals Manchester United. Chelsea need to strengthen their squad for the FIFA Club World Cup in the US.

However, before entering the transfer market, Maresca still has an important task to conquer: defeat Real Betis in the Conference League final, 2am on May 29 in Wroclaw (Poland).

Chelsea have not won a trophy since the FIFA Club World Cup in February 2022. Victory over Betis would be an important stepping stone for Maresca's work to go further.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/chelsea-lay-ve-cup-c1-san-sang-chinh-phuc-conference-league-2404888.html