Football Daily - Enzo Maresca leaves Chelsea

Episode Date: January 1, 2026

Aaron Paul and guests discuss the departure of Enzo Maresca from his role as head coach of Chelsea. BBC Sport's Chelsea reporter Nizaar Kinsella offers insight into the story, with former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin weighing in as well. We hear from Chelsea fans Tom Overend and Anita Abayomi, plus Chris Sutton and Dion Dublin join the pod to discuss the news and to look ahead to Chelsea's future.Timecodes: 00:35 Nizaar Kinsella tells us more 02:41 Pat Nevin weighs in on the news 06:47 Chelsea fan Tom Overend provides the fans' perspective 17:42 Chris Sutton and Dion Dublin discuss Enzo's departure 20:58 More supporter perspective from Anita Abayomi

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Bring more gear, carry more passengers, face greater challenges. Welcome to the world of Defender, with seating up to eight, ample cargo space and legendary off-road capability. It's built to make the most of every adventure. Learn more at landrover.ca. This is the Football Daily podcast with Aaron Paul. Hello and a very happy new year to you. We're kicking the new year off with a massive breaking story here on the Football Daily podcast. Enzo Moreska has left his role as Chelsea manager after a breakdown in relations with the club hierarchy.

Coming up, we'll be speaking to former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton and former England for Deon Dublin and we'll hear the fans' perspective on it all too. All of that to come later. But joining us first to react to the news, it's the former Chelsea Wing of Pat Nevin and BBC Sports Chelsea reporter Nazar Kinsella. Nazar, what can you tell us? Well, happy new year, but maybe it wasn't a happy new year for everyone at

Chelsea. It's a strange time, really. But let's just start with the statement. It began with Chelsea and Moreska of parted company. That's the word they use, not me. Then it goes on to praise Moreska's achievements at Chelsea, you know, highlighting how he

won the Club World Cup, the Conference League. And then I thought this was interesting. They moved on to the future, so there's still a lot to play for, in all four competitions, it basically says, including Champions League qualification, which is the main aim this season. So that's important for everyone to know

that Chelsea are aiming to qualify for the Champions League, you know, when Moreska's leading team and indeed now again. But they believe a change gives the team the best chance of getting back on track this season. Then they wish Enzo Mreska well for the future. So that was the news that landed, you know, early this afternoon and yeah it was pretty blockbuster and it probably does feel a bit sudden although I think those watching a bit closer knew it was coming. How has it come to this?

I mean how much of it is due to results on pitch and how much of it comes down to other factors and in particular Enzomereske's comments in the press? Well yeah, let's talk about the pitch first. One win in seven league games. That's not great is it in December. Chelsea do traditionally have bad December but this one certainly was was bad. But also, I'd have to point out, where are Chelsea now? They're still in all four competitions. They're still fifth in the Premier League. The championship qualification still is on the cards for Chelsea. So it was more than retrievable. And I say that because I'm about to say off-field issues between the manager and the hierarchy, certainly I have to say, is the

main reason that he's leaving now. Because on pitch, it wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible, either. And, yeah, without those off-field issues, I think the Enzomaresco would still be manager. Pat, give us your reaction? Not stunned, not shocked. Mildly surprised, but no more than that. Isn't it just the Chelsea way?

They go through management very, very quickly. And it doesn't really seem to matter whether it's back in the old Roman era or in the current era. They move on very, very quickly. Interesting to your question, you were asking there about the reasons why. Yeah, they want to be successful but in the end have a look at how many managers over the years

have a dig at their board then survive the first crisis after that. It's minuscule. It just doesn't it happen right. They hate it when the pressures on the manager, they're the flat catcher, the managers are the flat catchers, they know it. So they expect to be able to make some decisions. When they kind of point and have a wee look upstairs and the fans and the press and everybody else starts looking upstairs, they hate it. They can't start.

it. So I have to say I wrote in my newsletter and the BBC newsletter as soon as he said that after the Everton gain, I went mm-hmm, day's numbered. Yeah, I was on the say, I mean, was this always coming? I mean, it's been a very, very strange few weeks at Chelsea when he talked about the worst 48 hours he's had at the club and it's kind of

navigated like a soap opera sort of subplot and then he doesn't turn up for one of the games. Obviously, he was serving a suspension for one of them but he was ill. I mean, was the right. hitting always on the wall? To some degree after he had a dig at the board, you know, because when you have a dig at the board, you can do brilliantly well for a while afterwards

and you're okay and you're safe. But you don't lose those enemies. They don't go away. They're still there. And when the bad times come, those people that, even if you don't name them, they know who they are, you know who they are as the manager, and, you know, it's a kind of break.

And if you have that sort of break and that sort of relationship, I mean, it's just so common. I mean, I've been both sides of it. I've been an executive, I've been, you know, on the board in various clubs. And I know how board members react. They can put up with anything as long as it's the manager that's taking the hit. When they people have to, the others have to take the hit, they don't like it. So this was an absolute stick on.

Also, has you done a good enough job, which is the other thing you've got to ask a question about? And, you know, I think they're kind of par at the moment. No more, no less than that. You could dress it up in the nice way. Oh, World Club Champions and they win a European trophy. And it's a very, very young team. And the building, yes, you could drop out of that. You can also dress it up in another way.

1.6 billion queds spent on players, you ought to be able to put a decent team out there for that money. Absolutely. I think we all feel as if we could do that, don't we? Yeah, you know, I think that it's a really strange situation because I think that actually Chelsea do think that he's done some good stuff, you know, winning the Club World Cup Conference League, Champions League, qualification and all that.

But how do you go forward with somebody who, fundamentally doesn't agree with what the project is. I mean, this Chelsea project is quite extreme but they do believe it will be successful, the people running the club, the sporting directors, there's a lot of them. They think that this will work.

But the manager, you know, if he doesn't agree with that, if he's not singing from the same hymn sheet, they've decided to make the change and, you know, they've been even transparent, they've said it in the statement that they think they'll be better going forward without this guy, despite the fact, he's done pretty well, he's done okay, but

But, yeah, like Pat says, it's probably par this season. But, you know, looking back on the whole 18 months, I think it's been a successful appointment. And, yeah, it's just one of those things where you have to have a relationship. Yeah, that day-to-day relationship is so important. The sport and directors are very hands-on. They're there. And I think that that was part of the problem from Moreska's point of view, that they were two hands-on. And he wanted more autonomy.

He wanted more backing, not in terms of transfers, but in terms of, perception. Chelsea fans sometimes aren't happy about things and sometimes, you know, when they drop points and stuff, they want things explaining. And I think that Moreska felt that he could have been more protected given he was managing the youngest squad in the Premier League, let's say. Nazar, let's bring in a Chelsea fan. Tom Overend is from the Chelsea Social. Tom, happy new year to you. Great to have you on with us. What's the feeling from the supporter base about this news? it's absolutely mixed it's a very very strange scenario kind of all coming to a head in such a quick way almost erupting Chelsea have always been very clear that they wanted to assess

Xenzo Mreska at the end of the season and it feels as though this has been brought forward as I say not perhaps not on a whim but clearly things have got pretty bad behind the scenes if this has been done in such a way you know ahead of a really busy run in the season and as the panel have said results have not been so bad that the club I think would ordinarily

go for a manager change at this stage one thing that jumps out falling out with Tom and what we're all been saying so far you need somebody who's going to buy in inverted commas to the methodology that the club has got there's another way of wording that

you need a puppet that's another way of wording it you need somebody who's going to do exactly the way that you suggest from above and basically all you do is train the players now that's absolutely fine go and get that person but you better make sure that you get that person you don't get somebody

who wants to think their own thoughts because then you have got problems now it is one of the biggest problems of the modern football age and the fact that you've got these sporting directors or directors of football whatever and they want a certain amount of control and you've got managers and coaches and a lot of them

think well wait a minute I'm the one that's taking a hit here in front of everybody when things seem to go apparently a little bit wrong. So I do feel a little bit sorry for, you know, and also, by the way, this dip was always going to happen this season now. Always going to happen. Because of what happened in the summer, because you didn't have any break at all, you had two games over three days was your warm up for the season.

It's going to hit, right? So it was always going to hit whoever the manager was. So we always take that into account as well. But I don't think in the end that's the big thing. think it's just that breakup between the board and the manager. Yeah, you know, when it comes to, that's absolutely right what Pat was saying, but I wanted to also say that there is an element of this,

like how much did Moreska want to stay in the job? You know, if there's a breakdown relationship, it does work both ways. And I think what Tom said was right that, you know, the club would have ideally liked to make a change the end of a season when it's easier to change a manager rather than now. No, Zazar, do we read anything into the possible conversations Moresca may or may have not had with Manchester City and the job there?

Yeah, I think that that story came out for a reason. Moreska said that to us in the media when we were there. So he seemed to claim it wasn't from him or from his side. So it does feel like there might have been some dark arts going on with that. But yeah, maybe, you know, it's true, though. Maybe he is looking for a new job. Maybe he was, had half an eye away from Chelsea. And look, he changed agents in the same.

some of his new agents george mendes so that usually points to the facts that if a player or manager does that they want to change club mr can i ask a question you you've frequently said in the conversation so far the club thinks the club thinks the club thinks who is this club who are these who are these individuals who has given that information why why do we never see them come up and actually speak i could tell you who they are because they are very visible and they walked into the dressing room after the two-to-draw with Bournemouth. It was the, you know,

the co-controlling owner, Badereg Bali, who's very hands-on, and then there's sporting directors. Paul and Stanley and Lawrence Stewart are the main figures, so yeah, they went into that dressing room after the... Did you know what thing? You say the dressing. Do you not actually think now and again

you should talk to some Chelsea fans and say, okay, this is the problem here and just explain. Well, I think maybe the problem. As a chief executive, I did that. Maybe Tom's better answering that question, but yeah, it's not really the done thing in English football at a minute, and that's probably not for the betterment of the game, perhaps. Let me overview it and ask you, Tom, what has Enzomeresca's tenure and this decision done for the Chelsea supporters' confidence and faith in the ownership? I think there's a lot of different layers on this, because while this sacking, there are two stories clearly coming out,

or several different narratives coming out. The current regime are on to their fifth permanent manager since 2022 and the view will be that each manager will get less patience than the last because the model is very clear that it's not so much about the head coach,

the model will remain constant and fans are beginning to say, you know, I want to see a return on that model, a return on the 1.6 billion spent. And I don't think, the next appointment is going to get the sort of length of time that maybe fans, certain fans were able to give Mreska or even able to give a, you know, a coach in a kind of normal circumstances. I think for the vast majority of fans, top four,

top five will still very much be the expectation this season, regardless of the manager change, simply because the club have made a big point about the project and the model being a constant in this and that's very much going to be the case going forward I think who do you want next what what cut of head coach manager are you looking forward

to take your club forward the market for managers is pretty sparse at the moment if we're honest there's not loads of options out there I mean as far as I'm concerned I'm a realist I don't see the club going for a big kind of proven

coach you know of the ilk of a marino or a tuchel or so there are limited options there were reports on francesco farrioli but the club paying 13 million pounds to release him from porto would seem unlikely to me given obviously they have had to get rid of mariska although i think they will make some money on that um obviously with clubs will want to buy marasca out um but the obvious candidate looks like lear rsina but i'm not sure if that completely is going to satisfy the wider fan base because I'm proven there at Strasbourg

but at the moment there just aren't very many realistic options. Nazar coming on the manager search obviously it begins now for Chelsea. Is Liam Rosini the easy way out for the board? Yeah, he is. He already works for Blue Co, which is the company that owns Chelsea at Strasbourg and he knows the people working there.

I actually went down to Strasbourg in November and very impressive what they've done over there, to be honest. They've been quite successful. Liam's absolutely loved. And if he's loved in Strasbourg, he's loved in Chelsea as well. So he's certainly a huge candidate for the job. I think that they probably would have rather waited to appoint him in less chaotic circumstances, given they have to take care of that French club as well that they also own, by the way.

But if he does end up Chelsea manager, it's probably out of necessity. and yeah, you know, he's got those relationships. He's working with the youngest squad in Europe's Big Five Leagues as well, that's Strasbourg team, and they're even younger than Chelsea. So they're one of the few teams younger than Chelsea around. So, yeah, there's a lot of upside with him. I do think they'll interview other people. The one thing I have heard is they're looking for permanent managers now,

not interims, and they want somebody who will play a similar style of play to Enzomerescu sort of points towards. they want somebody you can, you know, work with this squad and not completely change everything. So that probably rules out your sort of Oliver Glastner's Back Five transitional type of managers. Pat, what do you make of what Nazar's just said in terms of the demands and what the Chelsea Board want from their next manager?

I know what they want. They want success. They want somebody to want somebody to get success, not just getting into the top four stroke five, getting through in the Champions League. And making a team that looks capable of doing, Champions League every single season but in top of that they want something else and this is when it gets complicated they want somebody else

who'll do what they tell them to do those two things might not be compatible this is where you may come down with the problem if they're not compatible and you get a younger manager and who will do your bidding for you it might not be good enough particularly if you're getting somebody

now Resignor sounds like a really good idea you know I was thinking the way Celtic recently went for Nancy who was a brown idea a young coach we've never done at that level and he's managed to lose five games and seven so far and the fans are not happy and similarly with Chelsea if you bring

someone in who hasn't got you know because remember this is the best league there is this is the hardest place to work there's a lot of good teams even against the bottom teams if you don't play well you can get done if you make mistakes you will get done so to bring in somebody who hasn't got that amount of experience is a

massive massive chance to take so I don't really know I mean they probably won't bring him Frank Lamper Paddigan, because I think Frank's quite happy when he is just now. As one or two fans, when he'd be devastated to Frank comeback, but they'll get somebody who's a little bit younger, who's a wee bit easier to manipulate, I would imagine.

Nizar, Pat, Tom, thank you all very much. Coming up, we'll be joined by Chris Sutton and Dionne Dublin for their view on the Moreska News right after this. Steve Bradnell, a sister manager at Royal Oak FC. You may have seen me online with viral. Viral sensation. And now the BBC have given

me the chance to set the footballing world banter eyes. This could be a great opportunity for us, lads, a podcast for the BBC. Can I just say, what's a podcast? Brilliant. Great start. Well done Bob. Brilliant. We can completely show utter

transparency to Royal Oak fans. I'll use my charm. Gift it. Gab. Games gone. The Steve Bracknell podcast. Watch on YouTube. Listen on BBC Sounds. This is the Football Daily podcast with Aaron Port.

Welcome back to the Football Daily podcast where we're reacting to the news that Enzo Moreska has left his role as manager of Chelsea, former blue striker Chris Sutton and former England for Deon Dublin are both with us now. Chris, what's your reaction to the news? Well, I mean, what did he? Was it a week ago when Enzo, uh, uh, Moreska came out and he said what the worst is at the worst 48 hours

I mean that was I mean that and as soon as he came out and said that you're thinking blind me something's up and I think Nizal said there it seems like there's a relationship breakdown between him and the club hierarchy

I did think it was interesting in the in the Chelsea statement as well I don't know what Dion thinks that the statement said that Enzo and the club believe a change gives them the best chance of getting the season back on track. So, you know, maybe he felt that there was a, you know, a natural endos. I'm talking about it felt that there was a natural ending as such, but Chelsea have to

move on. And who's next? Because everything which I've heard this afternoon doesn't, doesn't feel like there's going to be an interim appointment. They want to sort of nail down a permanent manager as soon as possible. Is that right, Aaron? Well, we believe so. Dion, was this only a matter of time after his comments in the press a few weeks ago? Yeah, maybe you only throw those comments out if something's not right behind the scenes and a lot of the time we chat about this stuff, we don't really know what's going on,

but from what we hear and rumours and statements and stuff, he's not getting it all his own way, he's not doing things that he wants to know, he's not getting what he wants to get. So a lot of interference, apparently, behind the scenes. So if that's the way you want your manager to work, you're going to struggle to get a top-class manager, by the way. Chris, how did you assess Enzo Moreska's tenure as Chelsea boss?

What is it? He's a world champion, Aaron. I mean, you know, they won the Conference League under him. Was it fourth place last season? I don't think they're doing all that badly. I suppose it's what was the ambition and the expectation at the start of the season. You know, they've only just slipped out of the top four. I mean, it wasn't so long ago that Chelsea had that brilliant performance against.

Arsenal with 10 men and we were talking about them being title contenders and then all of a sudden you know they've been on a on a on a on a on a poor run in the Premier League but I think I'm right and saying they're in the league up semi-finals they're doing okay in the champions league so it hasn't been all that bad I just sense that there are a lot of Chelsea fans who were never really having the rescuer and they thought that his brand of football was all a little bit slow and predictable and and maybe you know with with all these things uh you know, it's gone against Moreska and, yeah, he's heading off somewhere else. I think with all those teams that are up there at the moment, Alan, that, you know, in the top, top six at this present time, aren't really playing well anyway.

There's nobody really that's, you know, set the world a light, Arsenal, maybe that's it. Nobody's really been consistently brilliant. And I think Chelsea, in fifth, I've got a manager that, you know, obviously it's not working for them and things have changed. But they've got a manager there that I don't think it's going to be matched unless you're going to get, your wallet open and pay a lot of money to get some top class manager in. Well, question is, what cut of manager do they go for? That's it, that's it.

What sort of method do they go for? And who's willing to work with the Chelsea board? Let's hear from another Chelsea fan now. Anita Abiyomi is host of the Gold Diggers podcast. Anita, happy new year to you. Just give us your reaction to the news that broke this lunchtime. I want to say happy new year back,

but my year's already been rocked, honestly. it's been it's been tragic it's a little bit bittersweet because I did see it coming his remarks in the media have not been great towards the owners and it's just been brewing behind the scenes as well so I did see it coming

however not this soon I think sacking the manager on the first day of the year when we have one of our biggest rivals to play on the weekend as well in Manchester City it's just a massive mistake it just takes me back to when Thomas

Tucho was sacked a couple years back and just a surprise and the shock that came with that, of course we saw it coming, things were brewing up behind the scenes, but never in a million years would you have thought that they would sack the manager when things were, things were looking important for us in the Premier League. We have not, we've only won one game in seven at the moment as it stands and we needed to kick off the new year positively. And playing against Manchester City was already going to be a big hassle, sacking the manager in the meantime. Honestly, I'm speechless. Where does your team go from here?

You know, you get rid of a really good. That's the problem. Where do you go? You know, you're going to have to, who's in the pot? That's the thing. Exactly. And that's the problem because any manager that is in the pot, it just seems like the owners, they want to have full control over the team,

over the squad, over decisions that are made without being made for team selections. And it's just, it's Chelsea even a healthy place for any manager to come in and take over. They're looking at the Strasbourg manager at the moment. And I'm thinking, is that an improvement on Enzomeresca? No, not really. Enzumoresca is coming to this club. And I think someone said it before.

A lot of fans were not buying it. A lot of fans were not buying into his ideologies. But we've grown to love him and we've grown to have trust in him. And that's just been yanked away from us. So whoever does come in next, it's looking like a steep hill going up. Do Chelsea need, I mean, talk about Liam Rossini, do they need a more experience manager to take over at this time? What's, what, Chris, what, what experience manager would allow a share of the autonomy? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The thing is,

this team does need an experience manager. I've said it for a very long time. I do think when you're working with a bunch of young players, they need a manager that they are going to respect ultimately. And, and that's the problem that I feel like we're facing in our manager selections. And also, if we do get an experienced manager, what manager is going to come into this club and lay down for the owners? I don't see an experienced manager that will do that. Yeah, it sounds like the fans want one thing, the owners want another. The owners from the outside looking in, not knowing all the facts, it sounds like the owners want to control the manager and everything that goes on at that football club

and what happens over the white line and the fans want somebody they can respect the players as well, I would imagine they want somebody they can follow as well. Pat Nevin was with us earlier on and verbatim said that they want to puppet the owners. Is that fair, Anita? Yeah, that's what it's looking like because you just look at the series of events that's happened since they've taken over the ownership.

Thomas Tuchel has fallen out with the owners because they've disagreed on certain things to do with the team selections. Graham Potter comes in. Granted, he didn't have the best results either and he finally got the sack, which not going to lie for a lot of Chelsea fans, thank goodness. Mariso Potitino comes in

and as soon as things start going right with the club you can see that there's a rift between Pochitino and the owners and once that rift came became public much as Pochitino was out of the door and now it's happened with Moreska so it is fair to say that they do want a puppet and it's really saddens me to say it

because I look back at our old ownership who was very brutal, extremely brutal but you could not be a puppet for him. It's amazing now you've just mentioned sort of, you know, three managers that, you know, you mentioned Tucco, you mentioned Moreska, you mentioned Pocitino. You've had them all. Well, nobody's lasted.

You've had them all. You've had them all. But, you know, you're now looking for a manager like Pogetino. You're now looking for a manager. You're now looking for a manager like Tuchel, and you've had them. Exactly. So where do we go from here? You tell me. Where do we go from me? Anita, thank you for joining us.

Really appreciate the input Chelsea fan and host of the Gold Diggers podcast. Biyomi with us. There is a mini list. Liam Rosini, of course, is at Strasbourg, Chris and so would be in... He's doing brilliant, by the way. He is. Absolutely brilliant. He is. But for a manager on the way up, is

this the right job for him? The owners met Marseille manager, Roberta de Zerbi in the summer. Kira McKenna is someone who's also interviewed in 2024 when Enzomerasca got the job. Oliver Glap? Well, I mean, that's the question is about the style. We heard from

Pat and Nizar earlier who talked about how the Chelsea hierarchy won a similar sort of shape and style to what they're experiencing right now. Chelsea fans didn't like that style under Moreska,

did they? That was part of the problem. They never really took to him and even when they were successful or successful enough last season with the fourth place finish Champions League football and, you know,

with winning the World Club Championship and, you know, it's, you know, it was slow, it was sort of methodical. The Chelsea fans were bored that sort of went against him, a little bit

so it'll be interesting to see which way they go Iriola I mean would he be would he be in the pot as well

it is it is I don't know any football fan that is totally happy with their team and the way they play

they always want more of the fans and with all due respect they've spent the money to want to watch a game of football

that they're enjoying but it's very rare you get a style of football that works and is successful consistently Chris Dion

thank you both fancied for this episode of the Football Daily podcast. The next one will be a sporting giant special all about Liverpool and Egypt's Mo Sulla. Happy New Year and thank you for listening. Five live sports. Our referee for this afternoon. Close her whistle and we are underway.

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