Enzo Maresca once threatened to quit if there was ‘some doubt’ about his ‘idea’. An alternative plan might be to instigate an unwinnable Chelsea civil war.

If the elite coaching game doesn’t quite work out for Enzo Maresca, at least the Italian has wisely laid the groundwork for a permanent move into the sphere of professional managersplaining.

His determination to be filed alongside Maurizio Sarri and Rafael Benitez as deeply unloved tactic obsessives who never understood and even actively derided the unique dynamic at Chelsea is curious, especially without the history of success most of his predecessors can use in a battle against the fans that no manager will ever win.

The first real signs of incompatibility came in February, when Maresca described being eliminated from the FA Cup by Brighton as “a shame” but immediately pointed to the apparent bright side: that they could be “focused” on the Premier League and Conference League.

With Champions League qualification now beyond them through consistent incompetence and the latter an absolute bare minimum as failure to win Europe’s tertiary competition with the most expensive squad in football history remains unthinkable, it was a specifically ludicrous thing for a Chelsea manager to say.

But far more damaging was Maresca blaming the fans for his inability to oversee a single win against Ipswich this season.