Lauded by Pep Guardiola and yet to make a mark on his own, Enzo Maresca was linked with Celtic and now seems set for the Leicester City job, but his coaching career has been troubled.
The former attacking midfielder is expected to take over the reins at recently-relegated Leicester, following in the footsteps of the great Claudio Ranieri at the King Power Stadium.
He acted as assistant manager at Sevilla to Vincenzo Montella before understudying Manuel Pellegrini at West Ham United and spending a season as coach of the Manchester City Under-23 team. Since last summer, Maresca has been on the bench alongside Guardiola, helping City to win their first Champions League trophy, which along with the Premier League and FA Cup made the Treble.
However, it is not easy to describe what kind of a coach Maresca is, because he has been given so few opportunities to branch out by himself. Parma brought him in during May 2021 and sacked him in November after just 14 games between Serie B and the Coppa Italia. The 4-0 defeat at Lecce ultimately did him in, along with the constant chopping and changing of the tactics.
Ranging from 4-3-3 to 4-1-4-1 to 3-4-1-2, Maresca never found an identity for that team and was accused of trying to shove players into his vision rather than mould the tactics around their characteristics. Guardiola has the clout and budget to command signing players fitting his ideas, but Maresca found he did not command the same respect – or patience – even at a Serie B club like Parma.
He oversaw four wins, five draws and five losses at the Stadio Tardini in a very short-lived experience. It remains to be seen if Leicester City will put more faith in Maresca to do it on his own.