Enzo Maresca has made an astonishing admission about Liverpool as he prepares to pit his wits towards them at Anfield this afternoon.
The Chelsea supervisor has loved a promising begin to life with the Blues, who got here into this weekend fourth within the Premier League desk, having not misplaced domestically for the reason that opening matchday.
Talking forward of right this moment’s match, the 44-year-old revealed how he used Jurgen Klopp’s Reds as a template to review as he set out on his personal teaching profession.
Maresca as soon as watched 38 Liverpool matches in per week
Maresca mentioned (by way of Every day Mail): “4 or 5 years in the past once I completed enjoying and began as a supervisor, I watched 38 video games of Liverpool in a single week to review and to analyse how they have been with the earlier supervisor.
“I actually know Liverpool gamers as a result of I watched them many, many, many instances. That workforce, the primary one, two, three years of Klopp, the way in which they have been urgent was particularly good due to [Mo] Salah, [Bobby] Firmino and [Sadio] Mane, so it isn’t solely about on the ball.
“It was off the ball; the way in which they have been aggressive was one thing unbelievable. I actually like Salah, not solely as a result of he’s good on the ball however as a result of he’s a implausible participant additionally off the ball.”
Maresca faces powerful job towards Liverpool
Though the Liverpool workforce that Maresca watched religiously bears little resemblance to the one which he’ll face right this moment, with most of the personnel from our 2019/20 Premier League-winning facet having moved elsewhere, his admiration for the Reds appears evident from his startling admission.
As famous by Glen Johnson, Arne Slot hasn’t fully ripped up the template which served Klopp so nicely, however quite tweaked it gently so as to add a sure freshness whereas remaining true to lots of his predecessor’s core values.
The Chelsea boss has come up towards LFC as soon as earlier than – he was answerable for Leicester once they took an early lead at Anfield within the Carabao Cup final season earlier than the house facet fought again to win 3-1, their first step in direction of eventual victory within the remaining towards the 44-year-old’s present membership.
Maresca will little question have been watching Slot’s Liverpool carefully in the course of the worldwide break, however whereas formulating a plot to thwart them is one factor, implementing it’s one other. For each managers right this moment, this fixture presents one of many sternest assessments they’ve had of their first season with their respective sides.
