Pep Guardiola and Enzo Maresca have a shared passion for chess.
On Sunday the new Chelsea boss has an opportunity that he learned well from the Grand Master of football when he worked alongside the Catalan at Manchester City.
Maresca spent two years on the coaching staff at City over two career-shaping spells, first as coach of the Elite Development Squad that were crowned Premier League 2 champions in 2021. Then, after an ill-fated spell as coach of Italian club Parma that lasted just 14 games, the 44-year-old returned to Manchester as one of Guardiola’s assistants for a season which saw City win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup Treble.
It says everything about the impact Maresca had at the club that there were whispers in the corridors of power at the Etihad that he had the potential to one day succeed Guardiola as manager.
Maresca, though, left City again last summer to guide Leicester back to the Premier League by lifting the Championship - and his rise to the top continued when Chelsea decided he was the man to succeed Mauricio Pochettino.
By a twist of fate, the fixture computer decided that Guardiola’s four-in-a-row champions will kick-off the defence of their crown against Maresca’s new team at Stamford Bridge.
Two weeks ago, the two teams met in a friendly in Ohio, with City prevailing 4-2. Now, though, it gets real - and Maresca will be looking to land a checkmate.
He became interested in chess towards the end of his playing career with Palermo, when he realised that the game could help him develop his understanding of tactics. Maresca once said: “The chess board is like a football pitch because it can be divided into three channels - the centre and the two externals.”
When Maresca was studying for his UEFA Pro Licence, he wrote a thesis on how Guardiola’s defensive set-up was comparable to that of a Grand Master. It was an astute observation. Guardiola himself had been taught the game as a young boy by his father, Valenti.
He once revealed how it shaped the philosophy that made him the most innovative of coaches, when he said: “ Football is like chess; control the middle and you control the game.”
During a one-year sabbatical in New York between leaving Barcelona and becoming coach of Bayern Munich, the Catalan struck up a close friendship with multiple world champion Garry Kasparov. Last Christmas, he met up with Norwegian Grand Master Magnus Carlsen in Manchester.
Guardiola is so obsessed with becoming the best manager he can be that he is always open to taking inspiration from other sports. He loves the mental fortitude of top golfers and Olympic swimmers. In the summer, he spent time with Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzula during the NBA finals. “I am an ideas thief,” the Catalan once confessed.
Guardiola’s confidante Manuel Estiarte once revealed that the Catalan cannot go longer than 32 minutes without thinking about his chosen profession.
It’s an obsession that Maresca identifies with. He said: “ Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world. I am just another manager. When people compare me to him, it can only be because we are both bald and have a beard.”
Malford
0
2 bald head... different outcome