Maresca leaves Chelsea midway through turbulence

MANCHESTER, England:

Chelsea were back on the coaching carousel under their American ownership on Thursday after Enzo Maresca left his position as manager, following a reported deterioration in his relationship with the English Premier League club's hierarchy.

The Italian coach was midway through his second year in charge, having won the Conference League and Club World Cup in his first season at Chelsea.

However, the team has endured a turbulent last few months. Chelsea have won just one of their last seven Premier League matches to drop to fifth place -- while Maresca publicly expressed his unhappiness at a lack of support at the club in a post-match news conference on December 13, when he said he had just experienced his "worst" 48 hours at Chelsea.

KEY OBJECTIVES

"With key objectives still to play for across four competitions, including qualification for Champions League football, Enzo and the club believe a change gives the team the best chance of getting the season back on track," Chelsea said in a statement.

Chelsea have advanced to the English League Cup semi-finals, where they will play Arsenal over two legs, and begin their FA Cup campaign away to second-tier Charlton on January 10. In the Champions League, Chelsea are in 13th place in the 36-team league, two points off the eight automatic qualification spots with two rounds of matches left.

Chelsea are seeking a fifth full-time manager since the takeover of the club by American investors, fronted by Todd Boehly, in May 2022.

In the past 3 1/2 years, Chelsea have spent hundreds of million of pounds (dollars) in what looked from the outside a chaotic bid to sign players to refresh their squad. They now have one of the youngest and most talented squads in the Premier League, with star players, including Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Estevao, but managers have struggled to get the players to gel as a team after so many changes.

HANDLED CHAOS BEST

Out of all the managers to have led Chelsea in that period -- and they include Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino, the current coaches of England and the United States, respectively -- Maresca appeared to have handled the chaos the best.

Yet he reportedly didn't feel appreciated, given the tough working conditions and, according to the BBC, recently switched agents.

A few weeks ago, media reports in England linked Maresca with a possible move to Man City -- where he briefly worked under Pep Guardiola -- should Guardiola eventually leave, though Maresca played the reports down.

Chelsea's results have taken a downturn since a 3-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League in November.

The team's only league win in the past month was over Everton, 2-0. There have been draws with Arsenal, Newcastle and Bournemouth (twice), and losses to Leeds and Aston Villa.

Their next game is at second-place Manchester City on Sunday.

Chelsea said their achievements under Maresca "will remain an important part of the club's recent history, and we thank him for his contributions to the club".

There was no immediate word on his potential successor. - AP