Enzo Maresca

Did You Know?

• Maresca represented Italy at under-20, under-18, and under-21 levels but was never capped at senior level.
• Emiliano Mondonico described Maresca as a 'complete player'.

Club career

Maresca began playing football at age 11 with AC Milan and moved to Cagliari after three years. He started his professional career at West Bromwich Albion in 1998, making his debut in a 2–0 home defeat to Bradford City on 20 September 1998, and spent two incomplete seasons in the Football League First Division. In January 2000, he joined Juventus for £4.3 million, a club-record sale for Albion, and played one Serie A game that season. He was loaned to Bologna and Piacenza over the next three seasons, scoring nine goals in 2002–03 but suffering relegation with Piacenza; during that campaign he scored an equaliser in the Derby della Mole against Torino, celebrating by mimicking Marco Ferrante's earlier 'bull-horn' gesture.

Juventus later bought the remaining 50% of his rights for €2.6 million. In summer 2004, Fiorentina signed Maresca along with Fabrizio Miccoli and Giorgio Chiellini for €13 million, with Juventus holding half the rights; he debuted on 12 September in a 0–1 loss at Roma. On 16 July 2005, he transferred to Sevilla for €2.5 million on a four-year contract. In his first La Liga season he played 29 games and scored eight goals, and in the UEFA Cup he played eleven games with three goals, including two in the 4–0 final win over Middlesbrough, where he was man of the match and donated €10,000 prize money to a Seville hospital. He also scored a late penalty off the bench to seal a 3–0 win over Barcelona in the 2006 UEFA Super Cup.

Coaching career

On 1 June 2017, Maresca joined Serie B club Ascoli as part of the non-playing staff, officially appointed as assistant to head coach Fulvio Fiorin because he lacked required coaching badges. He then became an assistant manager at Sevilla under Vincenzo Montella from early 2017 until Montella was sacked in April 2018. Maresca moved to West Ham United in July 2018 as one of Manuel Pellegrini's assistants, signing a three-year contract in June 2018 at Pellegrini's request; he left after Pellegrini was dismissed, despite being offered to stay under David Moyes.

In August 2020, Manchester City hired him as manager of their Elite Development Squad, and he won the Premier League 2 title in his only season. On 27 May 2021, he became head coach of Parma in Serie B, but was dismissed on 23 November 2021 after failing to lead the team into promotion spots. In June 2022, he returned to Manchester City as an assistant to Pep Guardiola, replacing Juanma Lillo. On 16 June 2023, Maresca was appointed manager of Championship club Leicester City on a three-year contract, living at the training base for his first two months.

His first match was a 2–1 M69 derby win over Coventry City on 6 August. After a perfect start in the first four league matches, he was named EFL Championship Manager of the Month in August, then again in October and December. Leicester secured promotion to the Premier League on 26 April 2024 and became champions on 29 April after a 3–0 away win over Preston North End; Maresca won a fourth Manager of the Month award in April.

Manager profile

Maresca's tactical approach, influenced by mentor Pep Guardiola and by playing under Marcello Lippi, Carlo Ancelotti, and Manuel Pellegrini, is nicknamed Marescaball. It emphasises balance, ball possession, chance creation, building from deep with defenders and goalkeepers passing out, and defensive solidity. He has compared coaching to chess, stressing positional play and strategy. His teams typically use a 4–3–3 or 4–2–3–1 formation, shifting to a 3–5–2 in possession with the right-back inverting and central midfielders pushing up to create numerical advantages. Off the ball, they employ heavy man-to-man counter-pressing to win the ball high, and when pressing is not possible they drop into a 4–4–2 block. Mikel Arteta credited Maresca with building a young Chelsea side into the best attacking team in the league 'by a mile'.