Enzo Maresca has not attempted to downplay his ambitions as Chelsea head coach. He wants success, he wants to deliver trophies. Yet the Italian appreciates a journey must first be undertaken with his squad.
It started a little over a month ago on the training pitches at Cobham. And while there has been a stop-off in the USA, the first real challenge comes on Sunday when reigning Premier League champions Manchester City visit Stamford Bridge.
In contrast to Maresca, who started with the Blues on July 1, Pep Guardiola has been at the helm at City for eight years. He has had ample opportunity to instil his tactical philosophy and set expectations for his players on and off the pitch.
That time, coupled with the talent at Guardiola's disposal, has yielded silverware, both domestically and on the European stage. And Maresca played his part in that as an assistant coach at the Etihad in the 2022/23 season.
To now reign in Guardiola's side and then challenge for silverware is the task that faces Maresca at Stamford Bridge. It is one he is relishing but one that requires steps to be taken.
He says: 'We need to arrive and compete. For sure, my dream is to compete with the teams that at this moment are dominating English football – this is my dream, 100 per cent. But to close that gap is not automatic. It’s about training and working together.
‘In this moment, it can happen that there will be some games that you see the team very good, and the game after maybe the level drops a little bit. But the more we work together, we become more consistent in what we do.’
Maresca and Guardiola had the opportunity to renew acquaintances during our summer tour of the USA; Chelsea faced Manchester City in Colombus, Ohio, in front of 70,000 supporters.
The two coaches remain friends and Guardiola is an important figure on Maresca's road to Chelsea. Yet as the Blues head coach highlights, he has been fortunate to play under or alongside several of the very best.
He explains: 'I worked under (Carlo) Ancelotti as a player, (Marcello) Lippi as a player, (Manuel) Pellegrini as a player, and then I worked with Pep for two seasons at Manchester City. I try to take things from all of them and create my own box to put everything inside.
'I do not consider Pep a manager, I consider him a genius because he is ahead of the rest. When you are with him and close, of course, you try to see things and learn to create your idea [as a coach].'