Football Weekly Extra – The End for Enzo Maresca and What Now for Chelsea?

Date: January 2, 2026 | The Guardian

Host: Max Rushden
Panel: Mark Langdon (Racing Post), Lucy Ward, Lars Sivertsen
Main Theme:
The episode opens with Chelsea sacking manager Enzo Maresca after dismal form and behind-the-scenes turmoil. The panel explores the continuing Chelsea managerial circus, the club’s structural dysfunction, and what might come next. The episode also covers a dull slate of Premier League results, Sunderland’s ongoing heroics, Liverpool’s style crisis, and a peak at AFCON drama.

1. Chelsea Sack Enzo Maresca: A Familiar Tale

Segment Start: 00:47

Key Points

• Maresca Out: Chelsea and Enzo Maresca "part ways" after just one win in seven and significant tension inside the club.
  • Chelsea's statement lauds his UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup wins but points to "key objectives still to play for."
• Panel’s Reaction: Sacking seen as inevitable, with both the club and Maresca apparently eager to part ways.
• Chelsea’s Endless Cycle:
  • Mark Langdon: “Chelsea do this all the time, but they actually don’t get any worse for doing it. There’s this belief you have to have continuity—they’ve never really had stability, and it’s worked for them.” [03:04]
  • Lucy Ward: “They’re just trading—develop, sell, drop back down. That’s what it seems like.” [04:59]
  • Lars Sivertsen: Points out the humour in post-sacking club "briefing wars" and sees Maresca’s unwillingness to publicly blame the medical staff as oddly loyal. [07:16]
• The Medical Staff Power Struggle:
  • Lucy: "The owners wanting autonomy for the medical staff... is absolutely ridiculous." Managers should synthesize information, not be overruled. [04:59]
  • Players will exploit any cracks in authority. "If the physio's got a little bit more power than the manager... it's a soap opera." [08:56]
  • Lars: “If it turns out [substitutions] were under direction from medical staff... you can understand [Maresca's] frustration." [07:16]
• Managerial Manipulation & The Chelsea Cycle:
  • Lars: “So, sorry, is this the Chelsea cycle?"—hire a young coach, let him take orders, then sack him when he wants more control. [11:02]
  • Max: “Pat Nevin said they needed a puppet, which is sort of good news for Fozzie Bear or Orville…” [11:26]
• Accountability (or Lack Of):
  • Lucy: Sporting directors and owners dodge accountability, managers take the fall. Good academy people pushed out. "These people... must be an absolute nightmare for Maresca." [13:08]
  • Lars: “The structures have been changed... the head coach is still the face... everyone else... in the background. Something to think about.” [14:30]
• Chelsea's Project?
  • Mark: "Fifteen points behind Arsenal… £1.6 billion spent…" The squad is missing quality in vital positions. [11:50]
  • Lucy: “Success to them is selling Estevao for a lot more than they bought him. That’s what it seems like anyway.” [18:13]
  • Lars: “I think this is the fourth best squad in the league.” Yet they sit among underachievers. [18:58]

Notable Quotes

• Lucy Ward: “You can't expect a manager to function... with the level of interference he had. The manager is there to get information from experts—and then make a decision.” [04:59]
• Lars Sivertsen: "The briefing wars after a big managerial sacking are quite entertaining to observe." [07:16]
• Mark Langdon: “They want a coach they can control. Most big coaches wouldn’t want to work in those situations.” [11:50]

2. Premier League: Dull Draws, Gritty Sunderland, and Sluggish Giants

Sunderland 0–0 Manchester City

Segment Start: 21:28

• Sunderland’s Unbeaten Home Run: Impressed everyone by holding City, despite losing players to AFCON.
  • Lucy: "Stoic defending... they press the life out of City… really well coached, physicality high… massive club up in the Northeast." [21:28]
  • Mark: “They’ve played Arsenal and Man City, beaten Newcastle… not an easy run. The signing of Xhaka, one of the best of the season.” [23:01]
  • Impact of Granit Xhaka: “His leadership qualities as well... when he's on the pitch, he's a manager on the pitch.” – Lucy [25:16]
  • Lars: Praises Xhaka for choosing Sunderland over a payday elsewhere: "It must be so rewarding for him." [24:37]
• Tactical Brilliance: Sunderland pressed City at moments, then sat back. "You can’t run after City for 90 minutes, you have to be clever." – Mark [26:19]

Liverpool 0–0 Leeds United

Segment Start: 28:25

• Leeds’ Defensive Display: Dull game, but “Leeds were really well organised,” says Lars, who credits the away side more than criticising Liverpool. [28:33]
• Liverpool’s Problems:
  • Lucy: "Liverpool made it easy for Leeds… nobody committed a defender… didn't move the ball quick enough." [29:40]
  • Role confusion for Florian Wirtz, who’s wasted out wide when his creativity is needed centrally. – Lars [31:37]
• Slotball Backlash: Both fans and panelists see Liverpool’s control as a “handbrake," not creative. [29:22]
• Quote: “It's not tick attack, it's just slow.” – Listener question, read by Max [28:33]

Brentford 0–0 Tottenham

Segment Start: 34:34

• Dismal Game, Angry Spurs Fans:
  • Mark: “That performance has been the default one. There’s no sign of progress in this team at all.” [35:48]
  • Lars: “Going away to Brentford and not even trying to play football is embarrassing.” (Proposes a 10-point deduction for goalkeepers timewasting in such games!) [38:25]
  • Lucy: “Low levels of creativity... very low.” [39:57]
• Brentford’s Perspective: Being seen as a tough away ground is a huge shift for their club identity. [40:53]
• Frank’s Comments on Being Booed: “It’s fair when we don't hit that top performance... we need to acknowledge the defensive side; of course the offensive part needs to be better.” – Thomas Frank, quoted by Max [37:23]

Crystal Palace 1–1 Fulham

Segment Start: 42:49

• Palace’s Troubles:
  • Lucy: “Glasner is consistently saying he hasn’t got enough support… it’s a little bit of instability behind the scenes.” [43:02]
  • Mark: “Palace's first team is thin; two or three injuries and they lose a lot.” [45:10]
• Fulham’s Quality: Praise for Tom Kearney’s goal, but general offensive quality in the league was lacking.

3. AFCON and EFL Round-Up

AFCON

Segment Start: 47:29

• Draw Update: Segments future, full AFCON episode teased.
• Gabon’s Extraordinary Fallout:
  • Gabon’s government suspends the national team and bans key players, including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, after group stage exit.
  • Max: “That’s like Keir Starmer disbanding the England team if we don’t get through the group at the World Cup.” [47:29]
  • Lars: “Maybe Spurs need the Gabonese government to take charge—they seem to know what to do.” [48:38]

EFL Highlights

Segment Start: 49:00

• Middlesborough drop, Ipswich rise in the Championship, Portsmouth clear on top.
• Cambridge rise to 5th, led by “Pep protégé” Ben Knight.

4. Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Sporting directors will want to have their say, but definitely won’t want to go in front of the media.” – Lucy Ward [13:08]
• “Managers from Brentford and Brighton are never the most important people at those clubs.” – Mark Langdon on Thomas Frank’s suitability [41:23]
• “Do not take managers from Brentford and Brighton... that is just the way it is.” – Mark Langdon [41:23]

5. Fun Extras: Christmas Dinner Check-In (Epilogue)

Segment Start: 50:14

• Norwegian mutton (“pinnekjøtt”) for Lars; a disappointing restaurant turkey for Lucy.
• Mark mourns lack of lobster tails but makes do with prawn cocktail, gammon, turkey, honey carrots, hefty amounts of sausage meat, and a pint of cockles. [51:29]

Panel Chemistry & Tone:

• Warm, humorous, occasionally acerbic, always informed. Plenty of gentle teasing and immersive football “inside-baseball,” but accessible for fans who haven’t followed every match.

Timestamps of Key Segments

• Chelsea/Maresca discussion: 00:47–20:28
• Sunderland-Man City/PL draws: 21:28–34:34
• Brentford-Spurs: 34:34–42:49
• Palace-Fulham: 42:49–46:40
• AFCON news: 47:29–48:38
• EFL recap: 49:00–50:14
• Christmas Dinners: 50:14–52:38

This summary captures the full arc of the episode: the fallout at Chelsea, the state of Premier League pretenders, AFCON drama, and the ever-amusing sidebars.