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Enzo Maresca has been speaking about his excitement to get working properly with the Chelsea squad as the Italian head coach begins his second week of working at Cobham.
Enzo Maresca is “convinced” Chelsea have a “very good squad full of talent” as he begins his second week in his new role as head coach.
Maresca, who was appointed as Mauricio Pochettino’s successor last month, started his role in its official capacity last week at Cobham, where a handful of first-team players joined some academy talents at the club’s Surrey base. Today (Monday) will see more senior players, those not on international duty or taking a break after representing their countries, join the rest of the squad.
In just under two weeks’ time, Chelsea will jet off to the United States as they begin their pre-season tour. It will be the first time for supporters to see Maresca-ball in action with the Italian in charge of the Blues.
It will also be the first opportunity to see potentially four of the five signings in action. Estevao Willian, whose deal to join Chelsea was announced last month officially, will not move to Stamford Bridge until next summer as he continues his development at Palmeiras.
However, the likes of Tosin Adarabioyo, Omari Kellyman, Marc Guiu and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall are expected to travel with the rest of the squad to America. By the time Chelsea play their first match of the pre-season tour, against Wrexham in Santa Clara, California, the club may well have a couple more signings under their belt.
Judging by Maresca’s comments in his first-ever interview as Chelsea boss, however, the club may not need to invest too heavily this summer. The 44-year-old is adamant Chelsea have a seriously strong squad at their disposal already despite continuous links with players this window.
“One of the reasons I’m here is because I’m convinced the squad is very good and full of talent,” Maresca explained. “The most important thing now is we’re able to create the right culture that drives us for the season.
“I always say the same: if you are able to improve players then you are able to improve the team. So it is our target to try to improve all of them day by day.”
Maresca may not have officially started his job until seven days ago but the work he has been doing behind the scenes has been tireless. As football.london reported last month, the newly-appointed head coach asked the data department to provide performance analysis on every player from youth level to the first-team.
“It is very important because we need to know each other,” Maresca replied when asking about the significance of meeting the players for the first time. “I already feel like I know all of them to be honest because I’ve watched so many games in the last two or three weeks. So I feel I know all of them.
“But it is always different when you spend day by day with the person. You can see them through games but when you spend day by day with the players, with the human beings, the people, you receive a different kind of feeling.”
