'I am just bald' - Enzo Maresca speaks on comparison with Pep Guardiola

As the Italian adjusts to life as Chelsea's manager, Enzo Maresca has rejected comparisons to Pep Guardiola. The new Italian manager for the Blues has disclosed how club executives at Chelsea and Leicester City have laid out plans to replicate Guardiola's strategy at Manchester City. He then had to justify why that would not work elsewhere.

Maresca, a former midfielder for West Brom and Juventus, acknowledged that there are obvious physical similarities between Guardiola and himself—a bald head, a beard, etc.—but he claimed that tactical similarities end there.

Maresca was a City employee under Guardiola and freely acknowledges his role as a disciple after picking up knowledge from the best manager in the league right now, but he has since stated he is keen to forge his own route.

The Chelsea head coach spoke to the Daily Mail as he said, “When I joined Leicester and met the chairman and sporting director, they said: ‘We want to play the same way that City play. I told them: ‘We don't have the same players, and I am not the same manager’. And the same thing when I met Chelsea. I said: ‘The idea is that idea, but probably we need time because the players also need to understand what way we want to play and it’s different.”

“If I am where I am now, it is because of him” : Enzo Maresca

Maresca disclosed that Pep Guardiola is thrilled that Chelsea, his former Manchester City assistant, has advanced to the Premier League after leaving Leicester. The two coworkers will square off on Sunday, August 18, when Chelsea hosts City at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League's opening weekend.

Guardiola has frequently been compared to him, not only because of physical similarities but additionally because of his tactical strategies. The former Leicester City manager said, “No. Because in the end, I have my wife, I have my kids, I have my family. We are all different.When I joined Chelsea, [Guardiola] was very happy because he is sure [that] with timing, we can build something important. If I am where I am now, it is because of him.”