INSIDE THE SPLIT: WHY CHELSEA FIRED ENZO MARESCA DESPITE PEP GUARDIOLA'S "WORLD-CLASS" ENDORSEMENT
Chelsea has sacked Enzo Maresca on New Year’s Day. See Pep Guardiola’s shock defence of his former assistant today.
Even with Enzo Maresca's sudden departure from Stamford Bridge, Pep Guardiola had great things to say about his time at Chelsea. Maresca left West London on Thursday afternoon after reports suggested he was thinking about his future with the Blues due to a souring relationship with the club's higher-ups.
Chelsea has only won once in their last seven league games and will have a new person in charge for Sunday's match against Manchester City.
The trouble surrounding Maresca's position and his relationship with Chelsea's leaders, including Todd Boehly, surfaced after he hinted at a lack of support in some comments.
After a 2-0 win against Everton last month, he said he'd had the worst 48 hours of his time at Chelsea: Since I joined the club, the last 48 hours have been the worst because many people didn't support us.
Currently fifth in the Premier League, Chelsea is 15 points behind leaders Arsenal and could fall five points behind fourth-placed Liverpool if Arne Slot's team beats Leeds United.
Despite the poor results, Guardiola still believes in his former assistant's skills. After Chelsea's surprising 3-1 loss to Leeds, the City manager said Maresca hadn't gotten enough credit for leading Chelsea to Conference League and Club World Cup success last season.
Look what happened after Leeds, the Spaniard said. Enzo Maresca is one of the best managers in the world, and I know him well. But the job he's done at Chelsea isn't being recognized enough.
Winning the Club World Cup and Conference League and qualifying for the Champions League in such a tough league with a young team is amazing. He rotated the team, and look what happened? You can win games, games, and games, and then you lose, lose, and lose. It only happens in this league, in this country. It can happen.
Now that he's left Chelsea, Maresca will likely be in demand, with Manchester City reportedly watching his situation before. According to The Athletic, Maresca is a top candidate to replace Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium.
When asked about the rumors last month, Maresca dismissed them, saying, "It doesn't bother me because I know it's all speculation." Right now, there's no time for that because I have a contract here until 2029.
I've said before that my focus is on this club, and I'm very happy to be here. It's just speculation. A week ago, it was the same with Juventus in Italy. I don't care because I know it's not true. Right now, it's more important to think about why this news is out there. But it's not my problem, and I don't care about the speculation at all.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
_1777914166.webp)
Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
Must Read
