1. Enzo Maresca either wanted out or overplayed his hand
There are really only two reasons why Enzo Maresca would produce a flurry of distractions the way he did. He thought speculation over his future would force Chelsea to give him a new contract or he was trying to force his way out. Why else would he voluntarily create so much tension with the people who determine his fate and do so at a time when his team was struggling?
One game against an exhausted PSG aside, Maresca has met but not exceeded expectations at Leicester City and Chelsea. The idea that he is the handpicked successor to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City is objectively odd. Assuming he has not been privately offered that job at the end of the season, it stands to reason that his departure from Stamford Bridge was either by design or the result of a huge miscalculation by Maresca and his new agent, Jorge Mendes. Regardless, it’s a bad look for everyone involved.
2. Doing the same thing will produce the same result
Chelsea – one of the biggest sports brands on the planet – appear poised to replace a manager who had no top-flight experience with a 41-year-old whose experience in European competition consists of Conference League league phase games. Liam Rosenior also happens to be managing Chelsea’s sister club, Strasbourg. Compare that to the resumes of the managers recently hired by Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham.
The most accomplished coaches want control; Chelsea offer very little. They want a singular focus on winning trophies; Chelsea seem more interested in the transfer market than results. If the goal is to build one of the top teams in the world, the plan isn’t working. Chelsea are 13th in the Champions League and 17 points behind Arsenal in the Premier League table. This ultimately isn’t about Maresca or Rosenior. It’s about the people calling the shots.
3. This is Arsenal’s title to lose
Manchester City actually sat at the top of the Premier League table for a few hours last weekend. Arsenal got past Brighton to restore their lead, but a crucial game against Aston Villa awaited them on Tuesday. The Gunners won 4-1 and watched Sunderland hold City to a scoreless draw Wednesday. City were on track to keep the gap at four points until Enzo Fernández equalized in stoppage time Sunday.
Arsenal now have a six-point cushion with 18 games left. It no longer feels like City are ramping up to go on a late-season tear that would require near-perfection to keep pace with. Perhaps the most encouraging part for Mikel Arteta’s men is that they have been six points better than City against everyone else in the league. That has not been the case in past seasons. City also have to face Arsenal and Aston Villa while Arsenal only have to play City in a game Pep Guardiola knows is essentially a must-win. If Arsenal don’t come out on top at this point, they will only have themselves to blame.
4. AFCON is never short on drama
Gabon entered the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) with high hopes thanks to an attack led by Premier League veteran Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and LAFC winger Denis Bouanga. Drawn in a group with the Ivory Coast, a Cameroon team in turmoil and Mozambique, there was a favorable path to a spot in the knockout stage. Gabon failed to win a game, tying Botswana and Uganda for the most goals conceded in the group stage.
Following the team’s final game Wednesday, the country’s government announced in a television address that it had decided to “dissolve the technical staff” and “suspend the national team until further notice.” It appeared to retract the statement later, but it is unclear what is going on. Cameroon, meanwhile, booked their spot in the quarterfinals Sunday while their federation is in the middle of an epic power struggle. Don’t forget that the winner of the last edition of this tournament fired its manager after the group stage.
5. What AFCON hasn’t provided is many surprises
Outside of Gabon’s woeful performance, the AFCON group stage pretty much went as expected. All seven nations that qualified for the World Cup and are competing in the tournament reached the knockout stage. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, who can book a spot in the U.S. through the intercontinental playoff, also got out of their group. With half the quarterfinal field set, just two of those eight nations have been eliminated.
Mali beating Tunisia on penalties and Cameroon knocking out South Africa could be considered minor upsets, if they’re upsets at all. The favorites are still alive and playing pretty well. Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal are all unbeaten. Barring something unexpected, they will account for five of the eight quarterfinal spots. There does not appear to be any Cinderella run in the cards this time.