One thing that Mauricio Pochettino did manage to do as Chelsea boss last season was start to turn Stamford Bridge into a bit more of a fortress, with a better home record than some recent predecessors.
The importance of being strong at home should never be under estimated, and Enzo Maresca has a chance to get the ball rolling (literally) in that sense this coming Sunday as The Blues welcome Inter to Stamford Bridge for our final (official) pre-season friendly. I say official as there could be a behind closed doors game in the week next week, or an inter-teams friendly with Maresca’s starting Xl to face City.
Of course, Sunday’s game IS just a friendly, so once again I am not going to get too beaten up about the result. But it is a good chance for Maresca to introduce himself to the Chelsea stadium fans for the first time, a chance to start that relationship, that rapport, something that is going to be SO important for him and his time here. Chelsea fans want and need a connection with the head coach, and this was one of Pochettino’s downfalls as he failed to do that. It’s so important to do this, fans support is everything in so many ways, not just for the head coach.
Winning against Inter in front of some fans who are going to be with Maresca home and away all season, is actually going to probably be the most important game in terms of results of the entire pre-season so far. A chance to give fans something to believe in, some signs and moments of positivity, some reasons to be hopeful of the season ahead.
Fans will, or should, understand where we are at right now and cannot expect miracles. I said in the week, I think around two months in is when we should fully see Maresca’s system and style of play in place. Can we afford to wait that long and could we already be too far behind at that point? That’s a genuine concerning question. But there is also every chance that we get results and we even see Maresca’s football in full flow way before that, so we mustn’t always expect the worst, just maybe prepare for it.
Inter will be tough opponents, we all know that. It’s a good test ahead of the opening Premier League game against Manchester City that will come a week later.
I am sure that Maresca will be tempted to start Cole Palmer on Sunday, and I am intrigued to see if Marc Cucurella gets the nod ahead of Malo Gusto at left back. This will be the biggest call he will make and will be an indication of what he will go with against City the following weekend.
There’s a number of other decisions that he will need to be made, with that midfield headache that I keep talking about being the main ‘problem’ he will face in terms of starting selections.
I believe what he will want to do against Inter is use the same team who he will pick against City, at least as closest to it as possible (if injuries and fatigue allow).
Nico Jackson could get some minutes on Sunday, but I still see that as unlikely at this stage due to how bad his injury was.
Another interesting call will be between the sticks. Did Filip Jorgensen do enough to keep Robert Sanchez out and go into the season as the starting keeper? I personally think it will be Sanchez.
So Sunday’s lineup might tell a lot. I’m not going to attempt to predict it, and luckily as it’s a friendly we can still make the changes we need to and Maresca can still take one last longer look at a number of his players.
The result could really help Maresca start off on the right foot with The Blues fan base. It is absolutely not the be all and end all, but it could certainly help proceedings early doors ahead of the new seasons starting. But I think what might be more important is watching our defensive line and seeing if the players and manager have sorted that out together or not. As I said in the week, it seems so simple to sort out for me and just needs a vocal leader dictating it at the back in-game and if not, Maresca himself dictating it in-game.
Let’s see what happens.
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