Maresca leaves Chelsea ahead of Man City showdown
The Athletic FC Podcast
The Athletic
4.0 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 2 January 2026
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Chelsea head to Man City fresh from parting company with head coach Enzo Maresca.
Matt Davies-Adams is joined by David Ornstein, Simon Johnson and Mark Critchley to react to Maresca's departure as well as the possibility of Strasbourg head coach Liam Rosenior arriving at Stamford Bridge.
Rosenior joined The Athletic FC Podcast back in October, speaking about his coaching identity: https://pod.fo/e/344882
Following events at Stamford Bridge, Beren Cross joins to discuss Leeds United v Manchester United on Sunday, look ahead to Liverpool's visit to Fulham, Bournemouth v Arsenal and the rest of the weekend's action.
Host: Matt Davies-Adams
With: David Ornstein, Simon Johnson, Mark Critchley and Beren Cross
Executive Producer: Abi Paterson
Producer: Guy Clarke
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Athletic FC |
| 0:03.1 | Welcome to the preview from the Athletic FC |
| 0:06.7 | It's the show where we get you up to speed |
| 0:08.9 | With the New Year Premier League action |
| 0:10.6 | We'd always plan to preview Chelsea's trip to Manchester City on Sunday |
| 0:14.7 | But events at Stamford Bridge over the last 24 hours |
| 0:17.7 | Have made that even more pertinent |
| 0:20.0 | Thank you the last 24 hours have made that even more pertinent. |
| 0:29.2 | We'll get to the game eventually, but a Chelsea statement released on New Year's Day has pushed matters on the field down the running order. |
| 0:32.0 | Joining me to discuss Moreska and more. |
| 0:34.4 | We have our football correspondent, David Ornstein. |
| 0:36.6 | Hello, David. |
| 0:37.5 | Morning. Our Chelsea man, Simon Johnson's on board too. How are you doing, Simon? |
| 0:41.6 | Hi again, Matt. Yeah, it's been hours since we last spoke. We've also got preview still |
| 0:46.4 | Mark Critchley on board. Hello, Critch. Hey, guys. Happy New Year. Yeah, happy new year. Happy |
| 0:51.2 | transfer window opening, happy sacking season, etc. |
| 0:54.8 | Well, we are halfway through the campaign now, and Act 2 began in suitably dramatic fashion. |
| 1:00.4 | Chelsea have confirmed they've parted company with their head coach, Enzo Moreska. |
| 1:06.5 | So it was due to be Pep versus Mini Pep, Pep versus the Pep successor Derby, Manchester City |
| 1:11.8 | hosting Chelsea in a rerun of the 2021 Champions League final, which incidentally is the last |
| 1:17.2 | time Chelsea beat the citizens. |
| 1:19.3 | But before we get to the match, just in case you skip the intro and turned off your |
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