With Chelsea and Leicester two of this week's biggest losers in the football world, is one of the biggest winners Enzo Maresca?
The Foxes – who Maresca took to promotion to the Premier League in the 2023-24 season – have suffered their second successive relegation to drop into League One, while the Blues had their Champions League qualification hopes all but ended by Tuesday's dismal defeat at Brighton.
When Maresca departed Stamford Bridge on New Year's Day, Chelsea sat fifth in the Premier League less than six months after winning the Club World Cup. A club statement referenced the "key objectives still to play for across four competitions including qualification for Champions League football" as reasoning for the mutually agreed departure after a breakdown in relationships between Maresca and the club's hierarchy.
Maresca's comments after beating Everton 2-0 in December, saying "many people" had made it his "worst 48 hours" since joining the club were the straw that broke the camel's back, but friction had been brewing in the months before that.
He was planning to publish a book before being blocked, spoke at Il Festival dello Sport – an event in Italy organised by La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper – without the club's permission, and had increasingly avoided wearing club tracksuits – opting instead for his own clothing.
More pertinently from a football perspective, he made public that he disagreed with the club not signing a central defender after Levi Colwill injured his anterior cruciate ligament in pre-season. A concern that appears more validated with each passing week.
Losing Maresca has clearly left a void. Marc Cucurella said it's a decision he wouldn’t have made, while Enzo Fernandezstated he didn’t understand why the decision was taken.
Co-owner Behdad Eghbali said last week: "It's not a change we wanted to make. It's a change that had a bit of a negative impact in the season, when you're changing systems and personnel, and it's one we've got to fight our way out of."
Maresca himself has not yet given any public interviews discussing his departure, but posted on social media in early April for the first time since his farewell to Blues fans.
A carousel of family holiday pictures with the caption, 'Enjoying the half term…Time to recharge!' also featured a picture showing stationery and football tactics books – perhaps a hint that he is staying ready for a return to management. The post was liked by players Robert Sanchez, Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill.
Now on a five-game losing run, Chelsea finishing in the Premier League's top half feels like a more realistic objective than the Champions League qualification referenced in the club's statement confirming Maresca's exit.
With fans of both the Blues and the Foxes enjoying themselves far less since his departure, Maresca's reputation may well have been enhanced by him doing nothing at all.
