Enzo Maresca gets Chelsea sack warning from Paul Merson as 'massive miss' claim made

Enzo Maresca could face the sack if Chelsea do not find their form, according to one pundit. The Blues are in the midst of a battle for a Champions League spot, currently one point off fourth place.

Fifth spot could be enough to the Blues to land a place in the Champions League this season, but it’s a huge scramble between teams from third to ninth, with seven points between those positions.

Chelsea have not been helped by injuries, but they have struggled for form of late, and their defeat to Aston Villa over the weekend means they have lost three games on the bounce across all competitions.

The Blues are still in with a very good chance of landing Champions League football, and they face strugglers Southampton and Leicester City either side of a Conference League clash with Copenhagen, but Paul Merson believes Maresca could be in big trouble if he doesn’t guide his team to wins in those league games.

“If they don't win their next two games, the manager won't be there,” Merson told Sky Sports. “They're playing against two of the worst teams to play in the Premier League for I don't know how long in Southampton and Leicester. So, if they don't win those two games, he will do well to keep his job. Chelsea have got to get in the Champions League. They need the Champions League to keep players like Cole Palmer as he will want to play in that competition.

“They will have to finish in the top five, otherwise I dread to think what's going to happen. I just don't see what the plan is. All the seven-year contracts and these players are not getting any better. How many of them have been a major success? Bar Palmer, I don't see any major successes at Chelsea. Even Palmer has struggled now, Palmer needs Nicolas Jackson, and Jackson needs Palmer.

“Without Jackson's movement, Palmer gets suffocated out of the game. He hasn't got any movement in front of him. People give Jackson stick, but you can see how good he is now he's not in the team. Now, all of a sudden, they've got nothing up front, so no one's making the runs and Palmer's got no space. So he's getting deeper and deeper. Jackson's a massive miss.”

Maresca has managed significant progress at Chelsea in his first game in charge, so it would be a big surprise to see him sacked any time soon, especially given the Champions League race is likely to go to the death, and the Blues have some important players still to return from injury.

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