Enzo Maresca desperately needed Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur to build some rapport again with supporters.
Stamford Bridge has not had a positive atmosphere for a game like this since before Christmas. There is nothing like the visit of Tottenham, even when they are as dire as they have been this season, to galvanise the fanbase to forget all recent gripes about a manager and focus on beating their London rivals instead.
After a bright start to his Chelsea tenure, Maresca’s popularity has waned of late. Writing off his side’s title hopes when they were second in the table in December did not go down well. Suggesting that going out of the FA Cup fourth round to Brighton & Hove Albion was a positive because the team could focus on the Premier League and the UEFA Conference League was even worse.
There have been mixed messages over whether qualifying for the Champions League via a top four/five finish is a target or not, while the quality of football (and results) have deteriorated as well.
Maresca needed this result and felt the impact of the Stamford Bridge crowd.
“My feeling from the bench was that we had the best environment since we started the season with the fans,” he said afterwards. “If they keep being the way they were tonight, we’re going to achieve important things because they push us, they help us. I’m very happy.”
Chelsea have lost just once at home to Tottenham in 35 years so Maresca, like many of his predecessors, will have felt the pressure to keep the streak going.
And the Italian showed the strain he was under. This was as animated as Maresca has been on the touchline all season. Every missed opportunity was greeted with an anguished gesture as if bad fortune, rather than bad finishing, was the cause. When Nicolas Jackson fired one shot over the bar before the half-hour mark, Maresca could not hide his frustration.
But then he quickly used that raw emotion for a more positive effect — he turned to Chelsea fans in the East Stand and urged them to make more noise. Maresca has rarely done this, if at all, since taking charge last June. Significantly, they responded to his request.
They could see Maresca had set Chelsea up to try something different. Another cause of the rising angst towards him has been due to the team playing a slow methodical passing game with little attacking intent. The manner of the 1-0 defeat at Arsenal before the international break was the worst exhibition of the lot.
But with Jackson leading the line again after two months out with a hamstring injury, Chelsea no longer looked like they were operating in a straitjacket. Trevoh Chalobah hit a ball over the top within the first minute for Jackson to chase and it could have been an early goal. Soon after, goalkeeper Robert Sanchez struck it deep into Tottenham’s half for Pedro Neto to run on to. This was a deliberate bid to mix it up, something Chelsea fans have been crying out for.
Of the 462 passes Chelsea made, 65 were long. Data from WhoScored shows that the only Premier League game they have played more long balls was against Crystal Palace three months ago (68). In contrast, only 36 of Tottenham’s 458 passes were long balls.
“We are together nine months. I don’t know how long we’re going to be together, but until the day that I will be here, I will tell you that our game plan depends on the opposition,” Maresca said of the change in tactic, when asked by The Athletic. “We don’t do the same game plan. We cannot do the same game plan against Tottenham and against Leicester because they play a completely different way. Tonight we use more balls in behind. It’s because of Tottenham, the way they defend, the way they press.”
And he was proved right. Their opponents struggled with it throughout and in the end, the 1-0 defeat, with Enzo Fernandez scoring the winner, flattered Ange Postecoglou’s side. After getting a lot of criticism from supporters for seemingly having only one way of playing, Maresca showed that he is willing to adapt and it can work when he does.
This was also Chelsea’s fifth successive home league victory. It was crucial, lifting them back up to fourth in the Premier League. Their record at Stamford Bridge means only Liverpool (38) and Arsenal (34) have accumulated more points at home this season than Chelsea’s 31. Maresca has sparked a turnaround in this department, given they ranked 10th in January. However, it has coincided with a decline in their away results — their last league triumph was at Tottenham in December.
It would be premature to say Maresca has become a fan favourite again. It has become the norm for Tottenham to soothe Chelsea’s problems. Maresca’s approval ratings will still depend on where Chelsea finish in the standings and if he can win the Conference League.
No matter the quality of the fixture, beating Tottenham again has done him and Chelsea some good. Now he is tasked with keeping that good feeling alive.
(Top photo: Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
