Sources: Clear tensions between club and Enzo Maresca

There's been a host of things that have gone on - insiders on 'last 48 hours' and more...

It’s rarely going to be plain sailing between any club and a manager, and with Enzo Maresca and the Chelsea board room, it’s certainly been far from it lately.

You will remember that around a year ago, we started getting reports from SPTC Sources that things were not all that rosy. A handful of the players had been unhappy and not convinced by Maresca’s tactics, and the board were also unhappy with how things were going on the pitch. It led to pressure on the manager and the need for immediate improvements. Those improvements came and the noise died down.

On the player side, to be fair, I’ve not heard anything since then on them feeling discontent with the manager. There hasn’t been any fallouts or anything like that - I’ve not heard of any players causing issues or the manager throwing his weight around, I believe it’s all stayed professional and good enough relations. But what happened a year ago still plays on my mind there.

On Maresca’s side, he’s felt the pressure a number of times. He’s asked for certain things or certain types of players in the market, and feels he has not been given them. That caused a strain at the end of last season.

Obviously we won the Club World Cup and the Conference League, and everything seemed fine again.

But during this recent slump, the tensions have come back out, and SPTC Sources have heard of clear tensions in the last few weeks.