Noni Madueke hopes Chelsea fans are enjoying our attacking style of play and believes head coach Enzo Maresca deserves a lot of credit for implementing his philosophy to such a high level so quickly.
Maresca has only been in charge of the Blues for five months but has already guided us to second in the Premier League table and the top of the UEFA Conference League standings.
No team has scored more in either competition this season, with 49 goals in just 18 games, and when you add in European qualifiers and the Carabao Cup, it becomes 57 in 22 matches across all matches – our best goals-per-game ratio (2.59) in a single season in our entire history.
Add into the mix that only two teams – Liverpool (11) and Arsenal (14) – have conceded less than our 15 in the Premier League this term, and things have been going well at both ends of the pitch for the Blues.
‘We’re progressing,’ Madueke said. ‘Spirits are high in the changing room at the moment. Everyone is enjoying their football.
‘Credit to the gaffer and the staff for the harmony in the group and, of course, when you’re scoring goals everyone is happy.’
He continued: ‘We hope people watching us are enjoying how we’re playing. It’s fun to play in, and it’s a lot of hard work, of course, when you press all over the pitch and go man-to-man. It’s not just scoring goals, it’s about being resolute defensively and dominating your man one-v-one.’
The future is looking bright for Chelsea as we have the youngest team in the Premier League, with the average age of our starting XI being under 24 for the majority of this season.
Madueke himself is just 22 years of age and he said: ‘It’s fun being part of a young group. We’re young but we’re mature, we’re men out on the pitch.
‘We have a structure of course. When you put quality players on the pitch, a lot of it is instinct, but if we find ourselves in different positions, we have to make sure it’s not to the detriment of the structure. We’re doing that well.’
Madueke has been an integral part of Chelsea’s success this season, starting 12 of our last 13 Premier League matches after sitting out the opening fixture with Manchester City.
His direct running and finishing saw the England international make it six goals in all competitions at Southampton on Wednesday night, but Maresca has warned he must keep performing every day in training if he is to retain his place, with the likes of [Pedro Neto](/en/teams/profile/pedro-neto) and [Jadon Sancho](/en/teams/profile/jadon-sancho) waiting in the wings – quite literally.
Speaking immediately after our 5-1 win over Southampton, Madueke said: ‘He has given me trust. He has shown a lot of faith in me, playing me in pretty much all the games. He has helped me with my game, my goalscoring, all aspects of trying to become a top wide player, so all credit to him and my team-mates as well.
‘He’s been great for me, not just in terms of the things I "like" to do, so scoring goals and beating players, but even the less pretty parts of football, like the defensive part and being reliable. He’s helped me a lot with that.’
Madueke was on the bench in the Premier League for just the second time this season during our 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday, as Neto was given a starting position on the right.
Maresca has continually stated that no one’s spot is guaranteed and the players know they have to keep performing, not only in matches, but also at Cobham each day.
Madueke said: ‘I want to play every game, I’m sure the boys would say the same thing. However, we know we have a fantastic squad with two top players in each position, so it’s only right the minutes are shared out however the manager sees fit. We’ve seen numerous times this season, whether it’s in the league, the Conference League or the domestic cups, that everybody is ready to play.
‘It’s great to play in a team that plays free-flowing football and scores goals. It’s a credit to the manager and the players, how we’ve bought into his style of play, and we’ve been able to execute it in all the games so far, whether we’ve won or lost. That’s a big positive.
‘It’s great to get the first two wins of this busy month and busy schedule.’
Sunday sees Madueke return to Tottenham Hotspur, where he spent several years in their academy as a teenager, before deciding to move to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands as a 16-year-old.
Madueke knows all about playing in the Chelsea-Tottenham derby from academy football and last season, when he played the full 90 minutes during our 2-0 win in May.
He said: ‘It’s a special game versus Tottenham, it’s a rivalry, it’s one the fans care about a lot, and we take it very, very, very seriously. We’re going to recover and make sure we’re right at it versus Spurs.’