Maresca to bring dietician to Chelsea who banned salt, pepper and ketchup

05 June 2024 , 00:00
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Enzo Maresca will make some major changes to the Chelsea environment (Image: PA)
Enzo Maresca will make some major changes to the Chelsea environment (Image: PA)

Enzo Maresca's new regime at Chelsea is set to bring about serious changes - including some in the canteen.

The former Manchester City assistant has just landed promotion to the top flight with Leicester and those exploits have seen Chelsea come knocking. He will replace Mauricio Pochettino and the playing group at the Cobham training base are set for some unique tweaks to their food choices.

Maresca is bringing his Leicester staff members with him to the capital, which includes fitness coach Marcos Alvarez, who has earned himself a reputation as a strict dietician.

Alvarez has previously worked at Sevilla, Parma and Tottenham - which is where he became known for closely monitoring the dietary habits of the players and banning certain foods that most people wouldn't even think would have a negative impact.

When in north London, where he worked alongside Juande Ramos, Alvarez banned sauce, fruit juice, cake and salt and pepper. Last season, en route to Leicester landing the Championship title, he took fried eggs off the breakfast menu, reports the Daily Mail. The changes at Tottenham quickly lead to a number of first-team players rebelling.

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It led to certain player asking security staff members to sneak McDonald's in during pre-season. Then captain Ledley King was sent by team-mates to plead with the coaching staff to bring back certain foods - but his demands fell upon deaf ears.

Alvarez, speaking at the time, stood by his decision to remove certain foods. He remains part of the regime to win Tottenham's last trophy and he told Sky Sports: "The truth is, the first buffet I saw, I took photographs of it because it was very interesting. Lots of sauces, a lot of cakes, chocolate muffins, a box full of sweets. So we tried to put things right.

Maresca to bring dietician to Chelsea who banned salt, pepper and ketchupMarcos Alvarez is known for his brutal dieting instructions (Getty Images)

"When we arrived, we realised that the team was carrying excess baggage. I made a very simple comparison with the Sevilla team that we had been working with and, taking into account the size of the players, the team was basically 100 kilos over. So I immediately talked to Tottenham and we set the wheels in motion to change things."

Chelsea need major changes if they are to get back to the heights of winning silverware. The Blues finished sixth under Mauricio Pochettino but have gone trophyless for several seasons despite their American owners spending over £1billion on new arrivals.

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Samuel Meade

Fitness, Chelsea FC, Enzo Maresca

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