Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has singled out one player for constructive criticism, even after watching his side climb to second in the Premier League table last night.
Chelsea recored an emphatic 5-1 away victory at Southampton on Wednesday evening to earn three points in the top flight.
Enzo Maresca continues to impress as the Blues manager. Despite making seven changes for the midweek fixture, his freescoring team thrashed bottom of the table Southampton.
Chelsea fans were chanting Maresca’s name at Southampton, so there’s no doubt that he’s won over the supporters.
Noni Madueke of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Chelsea FC at St Mary's Stadium on December 4, 2024 in Southampt...
Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Enzo Maresca says Noni Madueke can be way better
Maresca delivered an interesting assessment on Chelsea’s Noni Madueke in his post-match interview yesterday.
While Blues winger Maduele impressed with a goal and assist versus Southampton, Maresca explained that he can be a much better player, including in training sessions. The 22-year-old attacker was recalled to the starting line-up at St Mary’s, but it’s been explained he was on the bench recently because of his performances in training.
Maresca said via football.london: “With Noni, I have personal relation in terms of he can do much more. He can do much more. The moment he starts to score or assist and is happy, he starts to drop a little bit and the reason why he was not playing is because I do not like the way he trained.
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“He has to understand that he has to train every day good. He has to be ambitious. He scored one tonight, he has to go for the second one and the third one. He has to give more assists.
“But overall, he is doing great, he is doing fantastic. He is doing even better in terms of numbers. Noni has to understand he has to work more because he can be much, much, much better.”
In fairness, Maresca has publicly criticised a few Chelsea players this season. He’s usually got a positive reaction from them soon after, too.
Let’s hope that Madueke is ready to roll his sleeves up and deliver high standards on a day-to-day basis.
In terms of the right-winger’s display against the Saints, he scored his sixth goal of the season in an eye-catching performance. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink loved Madueke’s goal at Southampton, describing the left-footed finish into the far corner as “pure class”.
Minutes played Goals Assists Total shots Big chances missed Chances created Match rating
72 1 1 7 4 1 8.7
Noni Madueke’s performance against Southampton via FOTMOB
Shoud Noni Madueke start vs Tottenham?
Next, Chelsea travel to Tottenham on Sunday in what feels like a gigantic fixture in their season. If they can extend their four-game winning streak across all competitions, this young Blues side can achieve some big things.
It’ll be interesting to see if Madueke keeps his spot in the starting line-up at Spurs, especially after hearing Maresca’s comments about him.
The England international does have competition from the likes of Pedro Neto,Jadon Sancho and Joao Felix to start out wide.
Chelsea fans loved Madueke’s performance against Southampton, and many think a brief spell on the bench was a blessing because it sparked a reaction in him. Let’s now see how he reacts to some public criticism, though.
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