France World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit has spoken with Squawka about the current situation at Chelsea under Enzo Maresca’s management.
Petit, who was very concerned and worried, pointed out various factors that he believes will indeed make it very hard for Maresca to handle a team with such a large number of players as Chelsea.
In this case, Petit’s feeling would be that if he could have a chance to be in Chelsea’s dressing room, he would be regretting having been part of Chelsea due to the many players.
Managing a Squad of 45 Players
Petit humorously pointed out that managing a squad of 40 to 45 players is far from a joke.
He highlighted the challenges of leading effective training sessions when working with a large group, especially noting that the ideal number should be around 25 players.
In a previous report from Sportsbuddy, Enzo Maresca admitted he knows the numbers of players he’s working with and it is not his duty to trim the squad.
With so many players competing for spots, Petit considers that it would be almost impossible to keep everyone happy and united, let alone make them all want to play for the success of the team.
More Chelsea Challenges for Enzo Maresca
Petit also went on record to explain the anarchy that is likely to prevail if no order is maintained in the dressing room.
He stressed that managing a large group without a defined pecking order could turn into a nightmare for any coach.
“You need to get a hierarchy in the dressing room between players. If you put every single player on the same level and you have 45 players, it’s a f*cking mess. It’s a f*cking mess; you have no idea.”
“It becomes hell for the manager. If you ask Pep Guardiola, (Jurgen) Klopp, (Carlo) Ancelotti, all the big managers in the world, if you ask them if they would be happy to manage 45 players every single day in training, they would laugh at you.”
According to Petit, the task ahead for Maresca and his staff is daunting, and it will take considerable time to identify the right starting XI and create a cohesive unit at Chelsea.
