Enzo Maresca has the chance to book Chelsea’s place in the quarter-finals of the League Cup when they face Wolves, and the current boss can follow in Jose Mourinho’s footsteps by taking the competition seriously.
It is fair to say that not all corners of the Chelsea fanbase have been won over by Maresca in the season and a bit he has been in charge of the club, despite delivering two trophies to the club in the prior campaign.
Chelsea fans have been heard losing faith in Maresca with chants during defeats, and the Blues remain a number of places outside of the top five in the Premier League right now.
Attention this week turns to the League Cup, and the Blues facing struggling Wolves at Molineux to try and book their place in the last eight.
The Chelsea Chronicle are expecting Maresca to make ten changes to his starting side for the game, although the game should be taken seriously by the boss as he looks to follow in one of his predecessor’s footsteps.
Mourinho didn’t take long to add trophies to his personal cabinet after moving to Stamford Bridge, and his first came via the League Cup in 2005.
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The Blues faced Liverpool in the final, and were behind within just seconds after John Arne Riise’s early goal. However, Chelsea benefitted from a Steven Gerrard own goal to take the game to extra time.
From there, Didier Drogba and Mateja Kezman found the net to help them to a 3-2 win, and bring the first trophy of the season to West London just months before their first league title in 50 years quickly followed.
Maresca has point to prove after early exits last season
Mourinho had already made a name for himself with his confidence and arrogance upon taking the job, referring to himself as ‘The Special One’.
He quickly backed this up with domestic trophies, and now Maresca must focus on doing the same, especially after how they went about the cup competitions last season.
The Blues were eliminated at this stage last season by Newcastle, and were knocked out by Brighton in the fourth round of the FA Cup too.