Enzo Maresca Tactic with Chelsea CWC | 2025 Club World Cup

Here’s Enzo Maresca Tactic with Chelsea CWC. Enzo Maresca’s team was really interesting in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, becoming the eventual winners of the competition. Their road to the finals was another thing altogether, finishing 2nd in the group stage below Flamengo. They went on to face Benfica, Palmeiras and Fluminense in the knockout stages. In the finals, they thrashed PSG 3-0 to clinch the trophy, which still shocks me till today.

In the tactical setup of the team, Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea used a 4-2-3-1 asymmetric tactic throughout the competition. Although he made some changes to the tactics, which I will discuss in the article, let’s get into it.

Enzo Maresca Tactic with Chelsea CWC | Tactical Instructions

In Possession

The build-up play is by playing out of defence, for most parts of their game. During build-up, Colwill/Badiashile and Chalobah give the goalkeeper extra width inside the box. Cucurella and Gusto/James hug the flanks, providing out-leg options to the goalkeeper. Caicedo and Enzo drop deeper, closer to the box, forming double pivots above the box.

In terms of approach play, Chelsea focused their plays through the middle of the field, after a successful build-up. The Blues used shorter passes, plus their tempo was slightly higher, to control the game. They looked for underlaps on both sides of the field.

In Transition

The team has a fairly wide attacking width during transition. Also, during attacks, Cucurella or James forms a back-3 with the central defenders while Gusto/James moves to the midfield. When James is in the game, Cucurella inverts to the midfield. Caicedo is the deepest midfielder, while Enzo pushed forward centrally close to Cole Palmer’s position. Madueke and Neto stayed wide on both flanks. Jackson drops deep, but if Pedro/Delap is the striker, he stays higher up the pitch. Plamer operated centrally as the playmaker.

When the Blues won the ball on the break, they went for counterattacks. In the final third, they mostly worked the ball into the box. When Maresca’s men lost possession, they were often counterpressing to recover the ball in the game.

Out Of Possession

In terms of their pressing approach, Chelsea presses with a line of engagement that is higher. When the opponent has the ball in their half, Chelsea’s defensive line is much higher. The team’s pressing intensity is at a more often intensity.

Furthermore, Chelsea’s defenders choose to remain compact by trapping the opponents outside. The defenders equally stepped up more on the defensive line, to compress the opponent’s half, forcing them to have little time with the ball..

Enzo Maresca Tactic with Chelsea CWC | Formation Lineup

Role Selections

GK

Sanchez is a sweeper keeper on support duty.

CDs

Colwill/Badiashile and Chalobah are ball-playing defenders, but on cover and defensive duties. Colwill/Bahiashile stay behind the defensive line to carry out their defensive work, while Chalobah stays within the defensive line. The two defenders support the team’s attacks with good passing abilities.

Cucurella/James is a wide centre-back on support duty. During attacking build-up, he will form a back-3 with the central defenders, before advancing through the left/right flank. He will then advance to attacks like a normal fullback.

FB

Cucurella/Gusto is an inverted wing-back on support duty. He will join Caicedo at the defensive midfield position when the team get forward to attack as an extra man in midfield. He will also make overlapping runs across the opposition’s final third.

DM

Caicedo is a defensive midfielder on defence duty. He is the deepest midfielder, helping the protect the midfield against opponents’ threats. Caicedo also plays a crucial role when it comes to maintaining possession in the midfield.

Enzo Fernandes is a segundo volante on attacking duty. During attacks, he would always get forward, frequently getting into the box to find scoring chances, staying close to the no 10 position. Enzo Fernandes also takes risky passes to switch the ball side to side. Lavia is a segundo volante on support duty.

Ws

Neto is an inverted winger on support duty. He hugs the right flank often during transition. With the ball, he cut inside, into the box, to find chances in the box.

Neto/Madueke is a winger on support duty at the left flank. He hugged the left flank during the attacks. With the ball, he runs wide or cuts inside to put crosses into the box. Cole Palmer on the left wing, is an advanced playmaker on support duty.

AM

Cole Palmer is an advanced playmaker on support duty. He is the source of creativity for Chelsea’s attacking moves, playing killer passes to create chances in the final third and sometimes leaning towards the right side during attacks. Enzo Fernandes is an attacking midfielder on attacking duty when used as an attacking midfielder.

CF

Joao Pedro is an advanced forward. In the two games he played in the competition, he was the furthest attacker of the team. Joao Pedro also roamed from his position often. Delap is also an advanced forward.

Jackson is pressing forward on support duty. He leads the pressing line of the team and also drops deep from his position to aid the midfield during attacks.

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