Inside story of how Enzo Maresca's Chelsea reign unravelled - with five reasons behind departure - The Mirror

Enzo Maresca has left Chelsea following an intense period of tension behind the scenes in which relationships broke down and the Italian manager sealed his own fate

In the space of 17 days, Enzo Maresca’s relationship with the Chelsea hierarchy unravelled.

Normally one sticking point is enough to see off most Premier League managers but, ultimately, Maresca’s fate was sealed after a string of issues. Maresca’s 18 month reign delivered the Club World Cup, the Conference League and the 45-year-old also led Chelsea back into the Champions League in an impressive debut campaign which saw the Blues finish fourth.

But his position became untenable after he decided to go head-to-head with the Chelsea board, who were left with no option because the relationship with the Italian had completely broken down.

Mirror Football can reveal that it went wrong from Maresca after:

• The Chelsea boss claimed on December 13 that the days leading up to the 2-0 victory over Everton were "the worst 48 hours" of his time at the club.
• He demanded the final say and medics say he ignored advice on when to rest players when it was felt they were vulnerable to injury.
• Chelsea's results unravelled in December as they managed just one win from seven Premier League games and dropped 15 points from winning positions which has seen them slump to fifth in the table.
• Stories suddenly appeared linking him to the Manchester City job just days after Pep Guardiola called Maresca the “best in the world.”
• His media profile is so poor and that matters for a club as big as Chelsea. On December 30, he did not show up for his post-match press conference after a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth and it has since emerged that him being ill was just an excuse.

The timing could also not have been worse for Maresca who, because he was not a big name like Jose Mourinho or Carlo Ancelotti, was always going to take time to convince Chelsea fans who have come to expect success.

Just when supporters were beginning to warm to the manager after a Champions League win over Barcelona, Maresca’s trail of self destruction effectively ended his hope of being a long-term manager.

There is frustration at board level because the joint owners - Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali - and sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart backed him to the hilt both publicly and privately.

That is why that “48 hours” comment after a home win against Everton came as such a shock and surprise. Maresca, who was talking about the two days after Chelsea blew a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 at Atalanta, then refused multiple times to explain what he meant.

But at the heart of troubles behind-the-scenes is a feeling that at most clubs the medical department have to guide the manager on fitness issues. It is particularly important at Chelsea because they are facing an incredible number of fixtures on the back of not having a proper summer last year because of the Club World Cup.

However, Maresca is believed to have wanted the final say on players even when medics feared they were at risk of fatigue. Chelsea said in their 99-word statement in sacking Maresca that they felt change was necessary to ensure they get back into next season’s Champions League.

And from a week which promised so much after beating Barcelona and then holding Arsenal despite being down to 10 men after Moises Caicedo’s red card, it all fell apart starting with a 3-1 thumping at Leeds.

Maresca’s achievements arguably did not get the credit they deserved. Other coaches talk about him being a brilliant tactician and Chelsea being one of the best teams at building up play in Europe. Maybe that was why Maresca’s ego would have been flattered by being linked with the City job soon after the Italian changed agents.

But there was a strong suspicion at Chelsea that things were going on behind the scenes amid reports that it could be Guardiola’s last season at Manchester City. For a manager under contract until 2029 and bearing in mind Chelsea’s own status as a European superpower, that story was never going to end well.

And despite last season’s impressive triumph by winning the Club World Cup, a top four finish and also lifting the Europa Conference League trophy, Maresca still did not have enough credit in the bank to win a battle of wills with the club’s hierarchy.

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