Enzo Maresca facing Chelsea baptism of fire with host of upset stars and brutal schedule on US pre-season tour

CHELSEA land in the US on Tuesday for their pre-season tour — but boss Enzo Maresca will feel like his feet have barely touched the ground since taking over.

The racism row surrounding £106million Argentinian midfielder Enzo Fernandez refuses to go away.

On Sunday, thousands of River Plate fans sang the offensive chant about France’s national team as he was paraded at his boyhood club in Buenos Aires.

So, while 23-year-old Fernandez is on a different continent, he is still giving his manager a headache as they arrive in California.

Problems always seem to be just around the corner at Chelsea and the fallout from Fernandez filming his international team-mates chanting the vile song after their Copa America final win has been significant.

The player effectively lobbed a grenade into Chelsea’s multi-cultural dressing room — sending it into complete meltdown.

Up to ten Blues stars either unfollowed or snubbed Fernandez on social media, while French team-mate Wesley Fofana blasted the “uninhibited racism”.

Fernandez will not join Chelsea on their US tour — which has other problems — but his presence will hang over the fortnight-long trip.

He has apologised and the Blues have launched an investigation.

But neither of those actions will have healed the wounds among the club’s French contingent, which includes Benoit Badiashile, Axel Disasi, Malo Gusto, Christopher Nkunku, Lesley Ugochukwu and Fofana, with three other non-French players also believed to angered by Fernandez’s actions.

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New Stamford Bridge chief Maresca must now try to pick up the pieces in the USA.

Dealing with a group who are angered at racist references to their African heritage is not something the Italian would have prepared for.

Players who have been at Cobham with the former Leicester boss since the start of this month have been impressed by his intense early sessions.

The squad have been worked hard but also given more time working with a ball at their feet — always a popular move — with Maresca joining in plenty of the sessions.

But now, there is an early test of how he manages the group when things go wrong.

Does he come down hard on Fernandez or try to bring his squad back together?

For someone with only one full season in management, this will be a lesson on how serious issues can become under the spotlight of a big club.

Keeping players happy while on the tour — which begins with a match against Wrexham in Santa Clara in the early hours of Thursday morning — will be the priority for now.

One plate Maresca will not have to spin is new signing Caleb Wiley, 19.

The USA international left-back inked a six-year deal after joining from MLS side Atlanta for £8.5m. Wiley is in Paris as part of his country’s squad for the Olympic football tournament.

And he is expected to  be immediately sent out on a season-long loan to Strasbourg, who are part of the same ownership group as Chelsea.

The idea of pre-season jaunts used to be a solid block of time on the training pitch with the players to really get to grips with them and form new bonds.

Now, cash is king and preparation for a tough season takes a back seat.

That means Chelsea, over the next two weeks, will take in five games in five different cities, travelling almost 13,000 miles from London in the process.

And if there are complaints about overworking players coming from the club over the season, we’ll know where it all started…

The hectic schedule, which also sees Maresca’s men take on Celtic, Club America, Manchester City and Real Madrid, has given some players flashbacks to 2022.

That US tour, where players — senior and fringe — were split into two groups, caused huge problems for Thomas Tuchel.

The German was sacked just six games into the 2022-23 season.

His successor, Graham Potter, later revealed the trip had upset the camp.

He said: “Speaking to a few of the experienced guys, they thought it was the worst pre-season they’ve had, for different reasons.

“That isn’t to blame anybody. It’s just that it happened.

“It was more organisationally the tour didn’t work as well as they’d have liked.”

That trip was just three games, so playing five this time has not gone down well.

Maresca will not have experienced this amount of interest, from fans and commercial partners, before — even as Pep Guardiola’s No 2 at City.

Chelsea, with their American ownership, are a different beast, even to Pep’s Treble winners.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk