Enzo Maresca won Premier League Manager of the Month for September. The Italian is the seventh of his nation to manage Chelsea.
Although nationality is not a determining factor when making decisions in the football world, Chelsea in particular seems to have a thing for Italians. The Blues have seen a lot of success with players and managers from Italy.
From Player to Manager
There is nothing more iconic than going from scoring goals for a team, to leading that very team to glory as head coach. Roberto Di Matteo and Gianluca Vialli themselves got to turn that dream into a reality for Chelsea.
Roberto di Matteo
As a player, Roberto Di Matteo had a successful career as a Chelsea player. The central midfielder, with his 26 goals and 13 assists, achieved six honours as a Blue. At the West London club, as a player, he enjoyed six major honours – two FA Cups, an English Super Cup (Community Shield), an English League Cup (Carabao Cup), a UEFA Super Cup, and a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. He became a Blue in 1996 and retired at the club in 2002.
Di Matteo was called back to the Premier League club in March 2012 after André Villas-Boas was sacked mid-season. Despite only being the interim in the remainder of the 2011/12 season, that time was marked as special. The former midfielder’s choice to focus on Cup football proved to be fruitful.
The former midfielder decided to focus on cups. With his first UEFA Champions League game being a second leg fixture against, Napoli, Di Matteo turned the Blues’ fate around. They had lost the first leg 3-1 before Di Matteo’s arrival, but with the Italian in charge, Chelsea won the second leg 4-1, taking them through to the quarterfinals.
Chelsea beat Benfica and Barcelona on aggregate in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Di Matteo saw the Blues to their first-ever Champions League title when they beat Bayern Munich on penalties in the final.
Di Matteo’s FA Cup run was successful too. He coached the Blues to win every game from their fifth-round replay all the way to the finals against Liverpool, which Chelsea won. By winning the FA Cup and Champions League, they had completed the Cup double.
In June of 2012, Roberto Di Matteo signed a two-year contract, becoming Chelsea’s permanent manager following his successful interim spell.
Gianluca Vialli
Signed from Juventus in the summer of 1996, Gianluca Vialli was a Blue until his retirement in 1999. The forward scored 40 goals for Chelsea, winning the UEFA Super Cup, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Following a shocking and early exit by Ruud Gullit, Viallai was appointed player-manager in 1998. In 1999 he chose to retire and focus on his career as manager, continuing his role at Chelsea. This made him the first Italian to manage a Premier League club. Vialli won the UEFA Super Cup, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup as well as the FA Cup as Chelsea’s manager.
By winning the Cup Winners’ Cup, the Italian became the youngest-ever manager to win a UEFA competition.
When Vialli was sacked, he was replaced by his fellow Italian, Claudio Ranieri.
Sadly, Gianluca Vialli passed away in 2023 at the age of 58 after his battle with cancer.
Managers
It is not only Italian players that made Chelsea’s connection to Italy strong. Well-known managers from the European nation came into Chelsea as managers only and left with something special.
Don Carlo
Carlo Ancelotti is considered one of the greatest managers of all time. Whilst making history with Real Madrid, he is also known for his time at Bayern Munich, PSG, AC Milan, Everton and Chelsea.
Ancelotti was Chelsea’s manager from the summer of 2009 to the summer of 2011. To kickstart his season, Ancelotti beat Manchester United in a penalty shootout to win the Community Shield. The Italian’s first season was very successful, unlike his second which would turn out to be his last.
Carlo Ancelotti won the double in his first try – Premier League and FA Cup. That season, Chelsea broke the record of most goals scored in a season with 103 goals – a record that Manchester City later broke in the 2017/18 season by three more, with the record still standing to this day. However, Chelsea still holds the record for most goals scored at home in a season, with 68 goals.
The Godfather
Antonio Conte, like Ancelotti, spent two seasons at Chelsea as head coach. Conte was appointed in July 2016, and left in July 2018.
The Italian took the reigns following a very difficult season where Chelsea finished 10th. Conte gave the Bridge a complete turnaround, with the Blues winning the Premier League after 30 wins. They lost only 5 games under Conte that season.
In the 2017/18 season, his second run, Conte slightly struggled but still managed to add more Silverware to Chelsea’s trophy cabinet. Chelsea beat Manchester United in the FA Cup finals.
Sarri
Maurizio Sarri took over from Conte ahead of the 2018/19 season. The Italian’s reign was short, with Sarri staying for only a season.
Kicking the season off strong with a 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge against Arsenal, Sarri went unbeaten in all competitions until late November. However, the second half of the season showed inconsistencies, which eventually led to his time as a Blue coming to an end at the end of the season.
Although, just like every Italian before him – apart from Ranieri – Sarri brought silverware to the Bridge. In what was Eden Hazard’s last season at Chelsea, Sarri led the Blues to a UEFA Europa League title win. Sarri’s Chelsea won the title by beating London rivals Arsenal 4-1. That was Eden Hazard’s last game as a Blue, a fitting end to a legendary partnership.
Big Shoes to Fill for Maresca
Enzo Maresca is the latest Italian to manage Chelsea. All but one of six Italians before him have won trophies. Maresca will be under pressure to deliver at Chelsea, especially after Chelsea’s dry spell since 2021 when they won three trophies with Thomas Tuchel.
The 44-year-old is already off to a good start in what is his first season with 7 wins in 12 games. What has been more impressive is an improvement in Chelsea’s goal-scoring abilities. In just 12 games, Chelsea has already scored 29 goals. For context, in the 2022/23 season, Chelsea scored only 38 goals in the Premier League.
With their form so far this season, Chelsea might be real title contenders in every competition they are currently in – Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and the UEFA Conference League.
If Chelsea manages to win the UEFA Conference League under Maresca, they will become the first team in Europe to win all European trophies, having previously won the Champions League twice and the Europa League once.