When Enzo Maresca (EM) joined as manager last season, I along with many fans had reservations. He certainly wasn’t my first choice. After a significant amount of spending on many players and a some initial mistakes by our new owners, EM was fortunate enough to inherit a squad, albeit a bloated squad.
The SDs supported by the owners had made some good player investments. Like most clubs some of those player investments haven’t worked out but in my opinion they have been generally good. I can understand the criticism about not signing a so called “top” keeper and to a lesser extent a dominant CH, but I believe the SDs and coaches believe they have both already in Penders and Colwill.
So with a very young squad and being his first Premier League managers job, did EM do an average job or did he slightly over achieve? Some might draw a comparison with other managers’ first season of Premier League management at so called elite clubs, but such comparisons in my opinion have so many variables it almost becomes pointless. I suppose Mikel Arteta would be a close comparison, but he inherited almost a basket case of a squad. Jurgen Klopp came into Liverpool as a successful manager, but it took him 3-4 seasons to get a squad together that was what he wanted.
So, for me it comes down to personal expectations. My starting point was getting back into the Champions League and maybe winning a Cup. EM managed both last season, capping it off and exceeding my hopes by winning the CWC and therefore allowing us to be in the unique position of being legitimately able to say, “we’ve won it all. ”
In my humble opinion, EM deserves my support this season. My expectations are higher and as usual I will give my assessment of his performance at the end of the season. More importantly, I believe the club will undertake their own assessment, in the same way I assume most clubs do.
I hope EM can take us to the next level. I will support him, but it will not be easy, as our competition are not just going to waive us through to success. They are investing in their respective teams, so we have to work that little bit harder at every level to overtake them.