Jamie Carragher makes Enzo Maresca sack prediction after Chelsea outburst

Jamie Carragher has boldly predicted that ‘fantastic’ Enzo Maresca will not be Chelsea manager next season following his explosive comments about the club’s board.

Maresca’s future at Stamford Bridge suddenly looks very uncertain after he appeared to call out Chelsea’s ownership following Saturday’s 2-0 win over Everton.

The Italian said: ‘The last 48 hours has been the worst since I joined the club because many people didn’t support me and the team.’

While he refused to clarify who he was referring too, the remarks were reportedly an intentional dig at the club’s higher-ups and he did little to quell the matter when speaking on Monday ahead of the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Cardiff City.

Maresca has performed very well in his first 18 months in west London but Carragher believes this incident his sealed his fate and he will not be at the Bridge much longer.

‘It’s not uncertain. He was speaking about the owner and the sporting directors,’ the Liverpool legend said on Sky Sports Monday Night Football.

‘This is a classic case that we see at a lot of clubs now where you have a head coach, not a manager, and sporting directors. And what you get is the coach comes in initially and agrees to the terms and conditions.

‘But then he feels like he’s done a really good job and he has done a great job, getting Champions League football last season, winning a European competition and winning the Club World Cup. So then slowly he feels like he should get more power.

‘He’ll be really disappointed by Chelsea not going into the market and buying a centre-back in the summer, when [Levi] Colwill got the big injury.

‘In the last few weeks, the results have just turned on him a little bit. So he’s calling something out and he wants something in public which I don’t agree with.

‘We spoke about Mo Salah last week. This is not as extreme but it’s a similar sort of situation. I don’t like people going public, whether it’s a manager or a player, you sort it in-house.

‘But the problem for Enzo Maresca is if he continues like this, there’s only going to be one winner. And it’s not him.’

Carragher later added: ‘I don’t think Maresca is the manager of Chelsea next season.

‘I think when you come out and speak about ownership like that and you start going public, that’s a big problem. I don’t see him there next season.’

Chelsea’s stance on the matter is unknown but sacking Maresca, especially mid-season, seems out of the question, with the club fourth in the table and in a great position to win more silverware.

Carragher added that while the Blues could potentially hire someone better, he believes Maresca is an elite coach and suggested it would be a big mistake for the club and manager to part ways.

‘We talk about Manchester United and Ruben Amorim and there’s still that question mark, is he capable of coaching at the highest level against the best coaches in the Premier League? We don’t know.

‘I wouldn’t say that about Maresca. When you look at his record, it’s fantastic what he’s done because the squad of players Chelsea have, they’re nowhere near competing with those top three teams.

‘So for Maresca to have done what he’s done so far, that’s what makes him feel confident enough to try and take on the owners or the sporting directors, because he feels he’s done enough.

‘He’s sure he could do much more than that and I’m not sure he can with the squad that they’ve got. But going forward, where could Maresca go that’s better than Chelsea? I’m not sure.

‘Chelsea as a club will feel they can go and get another manager. Could they get someone better than Maresca? Maybe, but when you look at what’s going on at Spurs in the last couple of years, what’s going on at Manchester United, you can easily go and get a manager who is not at that level.

‘Maresca can go up against any manager, as he’s proved, whether that’s Pep Guardiola, Arne Slot, Barcelona in the Champions League. He’s more than capable tactically and as a top coach.’

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