Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca shares surprise two-word message in update hours after win
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has joined Instagram, announcing the move to an official social media account just hours after helping his side to a resounding 4-1 away win the Conference League. The result, in Greece against Panathinaikos, is his eighth so far in charge.
Following an opening day defeat at home to Manchester City, and a poor pre-season, Maresca has impressed at Chelsea, leading them to a strong start in the Premier League. In total, the Blues have scored 33 times in 13 games under the Italian.
Three of those have ended in defeats, but two were to City and then Liverpool last weekend. Chelsea also fell to a surprise Conference League play-off loss at Swiss outfit Servette, although they still progressed to the group phase on aggregate and remain unbeaten in the main competition.
Victory in Athens puts Chelsea in an expectedly strong position in Europe, ahead of some big domestic games to follow. Newcastle visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday, before Chelsea then travel to St. James' Park days later to face the same opponents in the Carabao Cup.
Matches against Arsenal and Manchester United follow before the next international break. Maresca has made a largely positive impression since his surprise arrival from Leicester City over the summer, though, and he has now taken the chance to expand his presence on to Instagram.
Promoting the move, Chelsea's X (formerly Twitter) account posted: "Our head coach Enzo Maresca is now officially on Instagram. [Phone emoji] Drop him a follow! [downwards arrow emoji."
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In a video accompanying that, Maresca himself said: "Hi, it's Enzo Maresca here, I am now on Instagram, follow me." Within 15 minutes of the account being live, Chelsea's boss already had over 50,000 followers.
Director of recruitment and talent, Joe Shields, is among them. Maresca also posted with an image of a celebration against Wolves in the 6-2 win. "Ciao, Instagram! [waving hand and cool person emojis]" he wrote. In a message alongside the Wolves picture, he added: "Hi everyone, I have officially joined Instagram today and I would like to thank you for your incredible support since I joined the club.
"It is an honour to be the head coach of this great club and I know the expectations here. I have a fantastic group of players and great staff here. We will work hard every single day to make the fans proud to be Chelsea. Thank you, [signature]".