Enzo Maresca will be hoping that he can achieve what Jose Mourinho was able to during his time at Chelsea.
Mourinho won three Premier League titles and multiple domestic cups across two spells at Stamford Bridge.
Maresca will also want to follow in the footsteps of two of his compatriots, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo. Ancelotti won a title with Chelsea, too, in 2010, while Di Matteo guided the Blues to the Champions League trophy in 2012.
Who is Chelsea’s best manager of the past decade? 👀
🚨🚨| Chelsea have had 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 different managers in just 8 years:
▪️Antonio Conte – 2016
▪️Maurizio Sarri – 2018
▪️Frank Lampard – 2019
▪️Thomas Tuchel – 2021
▪️Graham Potter – 2022
▪️Frank Lampard – 2023 (interim)
▪️Mauricio Pochettino – 2023 pic.twitter.com/enXca4buaa
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) May 21, 2024
View Tweet
👇 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say
John Terry, who played under all three of those past Chelsea managers, has been speaking about a couple of them.
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti and Tottenham Hotspur manager José Mourinho
Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus/Getty Images
John Terry claims Carlo Ancelotti was almost as good as Jose Mourinho
Terry has stated that Mourinho is the best manager that he has ever worked under. However, the former defender has named Ancelotti as a close second.
In a video posted by Reece Mennie’s YouTube channel, Terry said: “I think Jose has to be the best for me. A very close second is Carlo Ancelotti for me. And they’re both completely different characters in different ways.
“Like Carlo was a very calm manager, would talk to the players, would want to know what time the players wanted to train if we needed a day off, would sit there and kind of negotiate with the players. You know, when he first arrived from Italy, it was like, ‘We normally train in the afternoon in Italy’, and we’re like, ‘Oh, boss, we don’t train at that time. Can we train in the morning?’ ‘Yeah, of course you can’.
“With Jose, it was like, ‘You’re training at 10:00, you’re in this day, you’re off that day’. It was just no negotiating whatsoever. Completely different. But both really worked because Carlo really understood the players and because Jose was so in charge and had everyone under control, it was just perfect in two different ways to lead.”
You can choose one Chelsea legend to play in Enzo Maresca’s team today. Who are you picking? 🤔
Imagine this Chelsea team with Didier Drogba! 🔥
Enzo Maresca of Chelsea celebrates
Photo by Image Photo Agency/Getty Images
👇 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say
Earlier in the month, Terry also discussed Chelsea’s current manager Maresca, suggesting that he should stop rotating his team so much.
Maresca’s tinkering has seen Chelsea lose to Atalanta in the Champions League and drop points against Bournemouth and Leeds United in the Premier League.
Their defending at Elland Road was far from convincing. They were really lacking a Terry-like figure that night.
John Terry of Chelsea Legends acknowledges the fans at full-time
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Carlo Ancelotti’s record against Jose Mourinho
Unsurprisingly, having both managed some of the biggest clubs in the world at the same time, Ancelotti and Mourinho have met on several occasions. Head-to-head, there is not much to separate them.
As per Transfermarkt, Ancelotti and Mourinho have faced each other on nine different occasions. They have four wins each and one draw.
Ancelotti is currently managing Brazil, where he has had the opportunity to work with Chelsea trio Estevao Willian, Joao Pedro and Andrey Santos. As for Mourinho, he is employed by Benfica.
They are clearly not at the peak of their powers any more, but Ancelotti and Mourinho are two of the greatest managers the game has ever seen.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox