Enzo Maresca will attempt to bring “the right mentality and culture” to Chelsea in a bid to build a quick rapport with the club’s supporters.
The Italian has signed a five-year deal at Stamford Bridge having led Leicester City to promotion to the Premier League last season and succeeds Mauricio Pochettino, who had an often rocky relationship with the club’s supporters in part due to his association with Chelsea’s rivals Tottenham.
And he is eager to win over the fanbase by instilling his key principles in the squad.
He told the club’s official website: “In this moment, when you join a club you try to analyse what the club and team needs to improve and do the right things. For me, it’s clear we need to create as soon as possible the right mentality and culture, a culture that the fans can be proud of. This is very important.
“We are going to try to be an aggressive team on the ball and off the ball and we need to create this connection between the fans and the club, especially at home.
“When you have your own fans behind the team pushing, it’s like playing with 12 players and this is what we have to create here.
“Just trust the process, trust the idea, be behind the team. For sure we are going to enjoy the journey. Like at every club, for every manager, it will not be easy because nothing is easy. But for sure we are going to enjoy our journey.”
Enzo Maresca’s first interview as Chelsea head coach! 🎙🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/mG5ECXlJMU
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 8, 2024
Canny Maresca already working on the fans
Maresca was already saying the right things to get the fans onside by describing Chelsea as “one of the biggest clubs in the world”.
He added: “I’m very happy and excited. It will be a fantastic journey and I’m excited to get started [with the players] as soon as possible.
“When you join a club like Chelsea, you know that it’s a club that has to win. So for us, we are going to try our best to be there, to fight and compete with the clubs that in this moment are winning and fighting to win titles.
“I consider Chelsea one of the biggest clubs in the world.”
Many of Chelsea’s players are still away at either Euro 2024 or the Copa America and Maresca is eager to see them in person.
“It’s very important because we need to know each other,” he said. “I already feel I know all of them to be honest because I’ve watched so many games in the last two or three weeks. So feel I know all of them.
“But it’s always different when you spend day by day with the person. You can see them through games but when you spend day by day with the players, with the human beings, the people, you receive a different kind of feeling.”
