Maresca’s vote of confidence, Mourinho charm offensive & Blue protest confusion

IT is far too early for Enzo Maresca to be given a public vote of confidence by Chelsea’s owners.

But not too soon, it seems, for the message to be quietly put out that Maresca’s job is safe.

No-one, in the media or “in the know”, had seriously suggested that it wasn’t, despite the disappointing start to the season.

Yet in the wake of the defeat at Manchester United, following the loss at Bayern Munich and draw against Brentford, a few selected people were informed that the board remained right behind their manager.

Such is life in the Stamford Bridge spotlight. Even when there isn’t any hysteria, it must be tempting to launch a pre-emptive strike to stop any outbreak.

Especially when Chelsea’s greatest ever manager, Jose Mourinho, is back in town to remind everyone of the glory days of the Roman Abramovich era.

Maresca is already the longest-serving manager of the Clearlake regime.

Taking the club back into the Champions League, winning the Conference League, and boosting the club’s profile and income with victory at the revamped Club World Cup - all those achievements have bought him time and patience.

The word is that Blues chiefs genuinely recognise the challenges caused by the CWC and short pre-season, and the likely role they are playing in the rash of injuries.

And they appreciate how Maresca’s plans have been derailed by red cards.

BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS

In fact, it was noticeable in the pre-Benfica press conference that Pedro Neto came armed with the same stat as his head coach.

Namely, that Chelsea have lost only five games in the last six months, and in four of them they had a player sent off.

If you’re the owners you could ask Maresca if his dressing room has a discipline problem.

If you’re Maresca, you could reply that this is what happens when you have a team of young players.

The lack of outstanding and available candidates to replace him is also a factor in his favour.

Whatever the result against champions Liverpool on Saturday, the international break will give Maresca and his team the chance to regroup.

Injured stars like Cole Palmer and Tosin will hopefully return to fitness, previously injured players like Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile will have the chance to regain sharpness.

And they will need to. Because Chelsea have nine games in 29 days after that.

And if things are not going better by early November, then people WILL start to ask questions about the manager’s job security and the answers may have a different tone.

MOUR TO COME

JOSE MOURINHO being back at Stamford Bridge is never not going to be a big story.

The Special One tried to insist that it was not too much of an occasion as he sat in the Drake Suite on Monday night previewing tonight's fixture.

However, while he tried to play a straight bat - at times - over the emotions of coming back to Chelsea, the legendary ex-Blues boss did stop to take a few snaps of his old home as the Benfica squad and staff arrived.

Once inside and speaking to the English media, Mourinho (always with one eye on any future moves) put on a charm offensive.

Commenting "great to see you" towards reporters who have covered him in this country before moving over to shake hands with the English press.

Finally, there was one more moment to try and warm the hearts as Mourinho made a beeline for beloved Chelsea press officer, Thresa Conneely.

Conneely is part of the Chelsea family and has seen a staggering 31 managers come and go during her time at the Bridge, including Mourinho who stopped for a warm embrace and a chat before heading out to train on the pitch with his Benfica side.

PAV A GO

ANOTHER Benfica figure Chelsea fans may have their eyes on is striker Vangelis Pavlidis.

The Greek forward, 26, was the club's top scorer last season and looks in fine form having scored twice against Gil Vicente on Friday night.

Chelsea have not been afraid to be linked with a number of strikers under their American owners and Pavlidis is no exception.

There was talk of interest over the summer but Benfica were holding out for an eye-watering £85million - which made any move unlikely.

Given the constant Chelsea churn it would be no surprise if another striker was needed in the next couple of years, meaning a good performance tonight could see Pavlidis on that list when the time comes.

DAT’S THE WAY

DAVID DATRO FOFANA has failed to score in his four Chelsea appearances to date.

As a member of the summer “bomb squad” Datro Fofana is unlikely ever to have the chance to improve that statistic.

But he has already managed three goals in just 46 minutes across two cameos as a substitute for Turkish side Fatih Karagumruk.

They have not done his team much good so far - in both cases, they proved to be consolations in narrow defeats.

Last weekend the Ivory Coast international struck twice in stoppage-time, but Karagumruk were already 4-1 down at home to Trabzonspor by then.

This is Datro Fofana’s fourth loan spell since he joined Chelsea in that mad January window of 2023.

If he can keep on scoring, the Blues might even have a chance of selling him for more than the £10.5m they paid Norwegian side Molde.

BEEF BOURGER

STRASBOURG fans in their west stand remained silent in protest against BlueCo for their fixture against Marseille, leaving fans shocked when a section of supporters started chanting against them.

The group of fans were found to be an improv comedy club, based in Strasbourg and known as Les Improvisateurs.

Members of the comedy club were pictured wearing Strasbourg shirts, with megaphones in hand and wearing club accreditation around their necks - actors were even given notes to start chants every 15 minutes.

The ongoing feud between the Strasbourg ultras, other fans, and BlueCo is ramping up more and more, and the Ultras feel as if the club HIRED this comedy club to diminish their protest.

Banners in the east stand, opposite the silent ultras, read, "All united behind our club. President, captain, players and staff!"

According to RMC Sport, when questioned about 'enthusiasts' in the stands, 'the club acknowledged that the people seen with accreditation around their necks were members of an improvisation group, but that initiative came from them and not from management, assuring that everyone involved was a volunteer, and not paid by BlueCo.'

JOAO ABOUT THAT

BRIGHTON took a cheeky dig at Chelsea striker Joao Pedro, who claimed he was 'the main guy' at Brighton.

In an interview with Standard Sport, Pedro said, “Cole is a superstar. When I came to Chelsea, I was a bit scared about how he would react, because I was the main guy at Brighton. I knew Chelsea would be different. I said: ‘Cole, I’m here to help you.’”

At Brighton, the Brazilian scored ten goals and got six assists in the Premier League last season, before joining the Blues in the middle of the Club World Cup for £60m and scoring three goals in three games in the USA.

The Seagulls posted a picture of Danny Welbeck, who scored a brace at Stamford Bridge, on their social media channels, captioned 'The main guy'.

Brighton fans, of course, lapped it up, while it was another sting in the chest for the Blues.