Former Chelsea player and manager Frank Lampard has insisted Enzo Maresca needs to be given the chance “to do his work” and assess the squad.
Maresca was surprisingly appointed as Chelsea’s new manager following the departure of Mauricio Pochettino last month after just one season in charge.
The 44-year-old guided Leicester City to the Championship title last season, and has signed a five year contract at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard: Maresca needs to be given a chance
The Italian will be under pressure from day one to win silverware and get Chelsea back into the Champions League having missed out again last season.
The Blues improved from a miserable 12th placed finish in the 2022/2023 campaign, as they secured a top six finish and a return to European competition.
It was a vast improvement and a step in the right direction, but the reality is the club are still a long way from where they want to be in terms of challenging Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.
Club legend Lampard, who is no stranger to the pressure and expectation at Chelsea having played for and managed the club believes Maresca has to be given a chance “to do his work.”
“It was good to see a positive end to the season,” Lampard told talkSPORT.
“I was there at the back-end of the previous season and I knew it was going to be a tough build and a tough ask because of where the club was at and the distance now to the top clubs.
“And I think there’s still a gap so you need to be patient and give the new manager the chance to do his work, assess the squad, maybe affect the squad and bring players in.
“We’ll see how they go next year but they definitely finished on a positive note which was good to see, we’ll see what happens at the start of the season now.”
Maresca’s first opportunity to see his new players in action will be on the club’s pre-season tour of America in late July, with the Blues set to take on Wrexham, Club America, Celtic, Manchester City and Real Madrid.
