The Chelsea players who have improved the most under Maresca

Enzo Maresca has done a brilliant job at Chelsea this season after arriving to chaotic scenes at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues had been through several managers following the arrival of Blue Co. as their latest owner, and it needed stabilisation.

Chelsea had named the likes of Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino to their bench, but none of them satisfied the new owners.

Poch did a brilliant job on their bench in the last campaign, but he was surprisingly sacked at the end of the season.

He had led them from a poor start to the season to finish in a Europa Conference League spot, but the club’s owners remained unsatisfied with his performance.

They wanted a new manager and poached Maresca from Leicester City to lead their young team for the next few years.

At the time, we thought they had probably made a mistake by gambling on inexperience because Maresca had not shown enough to suggest he could take up such a big role.

His only senior coaching job was that successful one-year stint at Leicester City, and most people questioned whether he had what it took to lead a top club like Chelsea.

However, he has answered those questions brilliantly and made fans who invest in Chelsea tickets delighted about their team again.

Maresca’s first big job at Chelsea was cutting down on their bloated squad and he did a brilliant job at that.

After offloading Raheem Sterling and making Ben Chilwell redundant, he has divided the squad into two groups.

One group gets to play for the team every weekend in the Premier League, while the other group is used in the Europa Conference League.

This is an unusual solution, but it is working to perfection at Chelsea right now, so Maresca deserves credit for doing what most managers wouls have struggled to decide on.

In the few months he has been in charge, several club players have improved significantly. This article discusses these players.

Marc Cucurella

When Cucurella first arrived at Chelsea, he struggled to settle, and the weight of the huge transfer fee the Blues paid to sign him hung on his head.

He was set to become yet another big-money flop at the club, and fans were unhappy with his output when he began.

However, things began to get better for him from last season, and Maresca has markedly improved him as a player.

The Italian’s tactics suit the Spaniard, and Cucurella is enjoying his time on the pitch again, contributing greatly to the Blues’ success so far.

Malo Gusto

Gusto arrived at Chelsea after the Blues embarked on a huge transfer drive. The Frenchman was considered one of the players the club would simply send out on loan.

For several seasons, Chelsea has repeatedly signed players who they farmed out on loan until they leave.

It seemed they would use that model for Gusto, but he showed promise, and the club decided to keep him on their team.

The injuries to Reece James and the arrival of Maresca have given him more game time, and he is thriving.

The gaffer has found the right system for the Frenchman, and Chelsea does not think they will miss James if his injury problems end his playing career soon.

Gusto is still just 21, so Chelsea has secured that spot for up to a decade if he keeps performing to a higher standard.

Moises Caicedo

One of the most improved players in the Premier League this term in Caicedo, and it has been beautiful to watch.

He arrived at Chelsea following a tug-of-war between the Blues and Liverpool, but fans were surprised that both clubs wanted to sign him because of his poor form last term.

Caicedo has since turned on the style, and the Ecuadorian is enjoying his best spell at the club this season.

Chelsea spent a huge fee on him, and he is one of the players who have made life easy for Maresca on their bench so far.

It seemed the Blues were setting up their manager to fail, but with players like Caicedo, Maresca has built a solid team in a short time.

Romeo Lavia

Lavia was another player that Chelsea and Liverpool wanted to sign last term, but he chose to move to the London club.

However, his first season at the club was blighted by injuries. He spent several months on the sidelines while the Blues waited for him to return to fitness.

Lavia had been one of the most promising stars in English football at Southampton, and Chelsea fans were eager to see if he would do well for them.

Fortunately, he has overcome his fitness problems this term and has slotted into midfield alongside Caicedo.

The Belgian is a truly fantastic player who is not afraid to get stuck in and makes tackles cleanly, carries the ball well out of defence and knows how to pick a pass.

Pochettino did not have the luxury of using the former Manchester City starlet, but Maresca has seen great form from him so far.

Nicolas Jackson

Nicolas Jackson scored 14 Premier League goals from 35 matches last season, and he has already scored eight goals from 14 games this term.

The Senegal international saw his first team spot threatened in the summer when Chelsea held talks to sign Victor Osimhen from Napoli.

The talks were unsuccessful, leading the Blues to rely on him again, but he has improved this term.

Jackson is still not as good as Osimhen, but under Maresca, he has been one of the best players at the club and could lead them to abandon the idea of signing another striker.

At 23, he still has a long time to spend on the pitch, and the Blues can be confident that he will continue to improve.

Jadon Sancho

It was a huge surprise when Chelsea secured a late loan agreement to sign Jadon Sancho from Manchester United.

Since he returned to England from Borussia Dortmund, Sancho has struggled and he fell out with the former United manager, Erik Ten Hag.

Chelsea fans were not so excited to see him in blue, but Maresca had worked with Sancho as a youth player at Manchester City, and he was confident he could get the Englishman back to his best.

He has done so in the opening months of the season as Sancho has grown more confident and has been influential in Chelsea games.

Sancho scored twice and provided two assists in the league for the entirety of last season and has already matched those figures in fewer games this term.

He would keep improving and Chelsea is almost certain to complete his move to the club in the summer.