Gianfranco Zola has suggested Chelsea made mistake selling three key players and removing “soul of team” according to Metro.uk.
Despite strong finish to the 2023-24 campaign, Chelsea still only finished sixth in Premier League. They were almost 30 points behind champions Manchester City.
Chelsea’s end-of-season form appeared to buy Mauricio Pochettino more time at Stamford Bridge, however, the Argentine agreed to leave the club. This decision was made at end of the campaign and the Blues appointed Enzo Maresca as Pochettino’s replacement.
They hope the ex-Leicester City boss can fire the club back to silverware. Zola believes Chelsea struggled at the start of last season as they were still adjusting to departures of Jorginho and Kai Havertz who both moved to Arsenal and Mateo Kovacic who signed for Manchester City was also missed.
“Chelsea have had hard season especially at the beginning. But they changed alot” the Stamford Bridge hero told Ladbrokes. “They put many young players in place. Lost experienced ones like Jorginho, Havertz and Kovacic. They lost many players who were soul of team the leaders, so it took time to get going. Finally Pochettino got it working. It was working quite well. It was surprising to see him leaving. I don’t know the full reasons. But obviously from a supporter point of view, I am disappointed.”
Enzo Maresca Faces a “Big Job” at Chelsea
Maresca is one of the most highly-rated coaches in England having guided Leicester to Championship title last season and worked under Pep Guardiola earlier in his career. But Zola insists he has “big job” on his hands. He will need to get the Chelsea fans and squad behind him from outset.
“Enzo Maresca has big job to do,” the Italian added. “He will need to get the players behind him. To do what he wants to do. He will need to get the supporters behind him. It will be a big task.”
“I saw Leicester play. I was impressed by the way he got them playing. So I know he has abilities and on top of that he is Italian. That is a plus! But I was surprised by his appointment.”
“Firstly I didn’t think Pochettino would leave. Also because he was name we didn’t know was there. Don’t get me wrong, I recognize his abilities.”
“But we were expecting somebody more experienced or high profile. I think we wait and see how he handles a team like Chelsea. Where big expectations come with it.”
