FOOTBALL

Pundit believes new strategy can backfire at Chelsea

Recently, football pundit Paul Merson, has opened up his thoughts on Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea. He is pretty skeptical about their playing style. In this season, the Blues have adopted a new style of play where they build up from the back. We have seen the same tactics in De Zerbi’s Brighton.

In the beginning, it worked brilliantly against big teams such as Manchester City and Arsenal. Gradually, managers got to understand their tactics, and Brighton started to lose games.

According to Sky Sports, Paul Merson fears that the same thing might happen with Maresca’s Chelsea. They are doing well against midtable clubs, but their real test will be against Liverpool. Chelsea fans are excited to see how their team will perform against this Arne Slot side.

What is Maresca’s new strategy?

Recently, we are seeing that Maresca is employing a strategy called overload. In this system, the three attacking players create pressure on the opponent center half when he has the ball. The pressure comes from every direction. The deep midfielders also block the gaps so that the opponent cannot make a pass. We hope that this strategy will work against Liverpool and others.

But the problem is this strategy might not work against teams that love to play with the ball. For example, when Chelsea faced Manchester City, they were completely outplayed by Pep Guardiola. So, these things can happen in the English Premier League.

So, Paul Merson has cautioned Enzo Maresca about this thing. The pundit is surprised because the Blues haven’t changed their strategy since the first match. It is clear that Chelsea are determined about building an identity at the heart of Stamford Bridge, where they are trying to play possession-based football.

Last season, Chelsea finished sixth in the English Premier League. Mauricio Pochettino found a standard team out of the scrap.

At the end of the 2023–2024 season, the Blues were performing better than their previous games. They should maintain this performance in order to achieve more success in the upcoming season.

The fans are excited to see Enzo’s Chelsea team because he is the one who brings on something out of the box. He has worked under some legendary managers such as Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola, and many more.

He takes ideas from different managers and combines them all together. On top of that, he mixes some of his own ideas. These things make Enzo Maresca a great coach. It is certain that his system needs a goalkeeper who has a sound ball distribution ability.

Prediction for this season

The way Chelsea are performing is extremely concerning for other teams. Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea have won four consecutive games.

Everyone was criticizing Chelsea for having a bloated squad. Now, it seems that it was a masterstroke from the Blues Co. This season, the Blues have two major tournaments. One is the English Premier League, and the other one is the UEFA Conference League.

So, Enzo Maresca has divided the entire squad into two groups. One will be playing in the English Premier League, and another one will be playing in the Conference League.

So, everyone is getting their chances. At this moment, Christopher Nkunku is the top scorer for the club. He has scored seven goals for Chelsea. The Premier League team is not included in this squad. This indicates effective squad planning.

Without Cole Palmer, the Blues have been winning games. In the previous season, the England international was the only hope for Chelsea. Now other players are also delivering masterclass performances. For example, Renato Veiga has made the left-back position permanent for the European nights.

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