![\"Cole](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Cole-Palmer-Enzo-Maresca-4-1140x641.jpg\")
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(Credit: Imago)<\/p>\n
![\"Callum](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767684135_330_0b51cc5e83eff516a40e917d327dc30e.png\")
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Mon 5 January 2026 21:30, UK <\/p>\n
Chelsea staff and players were left shocked by Enzo Maresca\u2019s departure on New Year\u2019s Day although it did not come as a total surprise.<\/strong><\/p>\n That is according to former Man United and Blackburn chief scout Mick Brown<\/a>, who remains very well-connected within the game, as he exclusively told Football Insider<\/strong> that some players were left disappointed by the manager\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n Maresca quit Chelsea in dramatic fashion<\/a> on New Year\u2019s Day against a backdrop of frustrations with the board and their backing and support of his job.<\/p>\n However, the sudden deterioration in their relationship over the last few weeks has also caused uncertainty in the dressing room and amongst the players.<\/p>\n Many of Chelsea<\/a>\u2018s star players had forged strong relationships with the boss, enjoyed playing under him, and will no doubt feel his exit was unnecessary.<\/p>\n Chelsea beat Everton 2-0<\/a>\u00a0earlier this month, but it was\u00a0Maresca\u2019s outburst<\/a>\u00a0which grabbed headlines, as he claimed it had been \u201cthe worst 48 hours\u201d during his time at the club.<\/p>\n Brown, who has a wealth of experience working closely alongside elite-level managers including Sir Alex Ferguson for over a decade at Man United, insisted that the players will not have been pleased with Maresca\u2019s decision to walk away.<\/p>\n MORE FOOTBALL INSIDER STORIES<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t imagine the players were happy about it,\u201d he told Football Insider.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cA lot of them have arrived at Chelsea under him and been working with him since, he\u2019ll have strong relationships there, so it will have come as a shock.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure many at Chelsea would have been surprised because he seemed to be hinting at it for a while, but that doesn\u2019t make it less of a shock.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a bit of a concern and you\u2019ll want to see the reaction of some of these players long-term when the new manager comes in.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThey looked alright against Man City, but there\u2019s always a transitional period of somebody else coming in and trying to get their ideas across and whether that works out.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the nature of the beast really, especially at Chelsea, but it\u2019s now just a case of keep an eye on this and seeing if anything else comes of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Liam Rosenior prepares to take over at Chelsea<\/p>\n Brown first told\u00a0Football Insider<\/strong>\u00a0on 28 December that\u00a0Liam Rosenior is on Chelsea\u2019s list of options<\/a>\u00a0to replace Maresca should they be forced to do so.<\/p>\n Rosenior<\/a> is currently in charge at French outfit Strasbourg<\/a>, where he has led them to seventh place in Ligue 1 and into the next round of the Conference League.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, he remains highly rated in coaching and management circles in England following his time at\u00a0Hull City<\/a>\u00a0despite his surprising dismissal by the Tigers.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Brown told Football Insider<\/strong> on 2 January that Rosenior is the perfect replacement for Maresca<\/a> and backed him to be a success in West London.<\/p>\n The Strasbourg boss is now expected to take the reins at Stamford Bridge in the coming days in what will be a big step up for the young English boss.<\/p>\n For more Chelsea and exclusive news, follow us on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0or join our brand new\u00a0WhatsApp Channel<\/a>\u00a0for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credit: Imago) Mon 5 January 2026 21:30, UK Chelsea staff and players were left shocked by Enzo Maresca\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[885,1367,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-677181","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-chelsea","9":"tag-enzo-maresca","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115846954828577178","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Enzo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Enzo-Maresca-Chelsea1-1024x598.jpg\")
Credit: ImagoChelsea players response to Enzo Maresca exit revealed<\/p>\n![\"Strasbourg](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/imago1067272237-1024x683.jpg\")
Credit: Imago<\/p>\n