Chelsea Win Club World Cup: The Art of Chess by Enzo Maresca

Enzo Maresca, with a chess mind, turned Chelsea's impulsive purchases into a systematic playing system and won the FIFA Club World Cup.

Hero Maresca

The week that ended with Chelsea winning the World Cup in New Jersey on Sunday (July 13, local time) begins on Monday (July 7) in London with a completely different scene.

While Chelsea trained in Orangenburg for their semi-final against Fluminense, 3,400km away at their Cobham training centre, Joao Felix and nearly a dozen other players returned from loan spells to begin pre-season.

Chelsea won the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup with a large army. Photo: CFC

They are no longer in the plan, and are assigned to a separate coach by the club to maintain their fitness, waiting to be sold or continued on loan.

Enzo Maresca has found a way to “give shape” to billionaire Todd Boehly's chaotic shopping policy.

Boehly and his Clearlake investment fund spent €4.9bn (£4.25bn) to buy the team. Since then, they have spent another €1.6bn on 49 players. The transfer spree has been so rapid that Chelsea once had... 8 goalkeepers in their squad.

Last summer, when Maresca was appointed, images circulated on social media of players queuing up to use the gym. There were 42 players in the squad at the time.

The personnel rotation continued even during the team's participation in the FIFA Club World Cup .

Right before the final against PSG, Noni Mudueke left the headquarters to move to Arsenal for about 60 million euros.

A few days ago, they bought Gittens for 50 million euros. This player also participated in the Club World Cup with Dortmund.

Ahead of the quarter-finals, Chelsea continued to spend 64 million euros to sign Joao Pedro - who was then on a beach holiday in Rio, but immediately scored 2 goals in the semi-finals and 1 goal in the final.

Joao Pedro is Chelsea's latest recruit. Photo: CFC

Amid the shopping frenzy, Maresca has shown that he has a plan. With Joao Pedro, he explained: “We brought him in because this season we have to face many teams that defend deep. Joao is very good in tight spaces.”

Football and chess

However, that plan has not always gone smoothly. Just a few months ago, the team was facing many doubts.

Chelsea crushed PSG, coach Maresca made Enrique even more bitter

In April, after a 2-2 draw with relegation-threatened Ipswich, Chelsea were knocked out of the top four.

During the match, Stamford Bridge fans booed goalkeeper Robert Sanchez when he played a short ball from deep. Pressure from the stands forced him to play a long ball, but he immediately lost control and conceded the second goal.

Chelsea had to rely on a late goal from Jadon Sancho (on loan from MU, now left the team) to earn 1 point.

After the match, Maresca complained: “For the second goal, we took a long kick because of the pressure from the crowd, and then we conceded a goal.” It was not the first time he was disappointed with goalkeepers who did not follow the plan.

“I told Filip Jorgensen: ‘If you go long, I will take you off’,” he said in February. “It is difficult for Filip, and difficult for Sanchez too. But goalkeepers have to follow the plan.”

However, in the final against PSG, the opening goal came from a long ball from Sanchez to Malo Gusto.

Maresca explained: “I always say that the solution comes from the way the opponent plays. If PSG play like in the final, the solution is long balls, because it is a one-on-one situation that you have to exploit. But if the opponent has more players at the back, then you have to play short.”

Maresca completely transformed Chelsea in less than a year. Photo: CFC

Maresca also ties his tactical approach to one of his hobbies: “I really like playing chess. I see a lot of similarities between football and chess, and I think that every game has its moves.”

“Not exactly according to the rules of chess, but very important tactical moves,” he explained. “If my opponent does something, I immediately want to respond with another move. I like chess, and I like the chess player’s mindset even more.”

When analyzing PSG, he discovered a gap on the French team's left flank: "We saw that they were leaving a lot of space, so we deployed Palme and Gusto to create an overwhelming position." Indeed, all three goals came from this flank.

After a difficult start, Chelsea won the Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup in turn.

Last year, when Maresca arrived, people only talked about the squad being too big, spending too much money...

“Nobody says that anymore,” Maresca smiled. “Now, when we talk about Chelsea, it’s about the way we play, the way we win.”

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/chelsea-vo-dich-club-world-cup-enzo-maresca-va-nghe-thuat-co-vua-2421926.html