Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca singles out one of his wingers for praise ahead of the Blues’ Sunday showdown at Liverpool in the Premier League.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has called on the majority of his wide players to follow the lead of Noni Madueke.
Since losing to Manchester City on the opening weekend of the campaign, the Blues have responded by putting together a six-game undefeated streak in the Premier League.
That has left Chelsea sitting four points adrift of leaders Liverpool in the standings ahead of their showdown at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
Unlike under previous head coaches, Maresca now has a settled squad at his disposal, as well as a wide array of talent in the final third.
Madueke began the season without being introduced as a substitute against Man City, while he remained among the replacements for the first leg of the Conference League playoff with Servette that followed four days later.
However, Madueke has since brushed off being down the pecking order under Maresca by emerging as arguably Chelsea’s first-choice option on the flanks.
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Maresca talks up Madueke attitude
Madueke has since scored five times from eight outings in all competitions, including a hat-trick against Wolverhampton Wanderers in what was his first start of the campaign.
When addressing the quality that he has in his squad, Maresca used Madueke as an example to try to motivate his competition to increase their work-rate both on and off the ball.
As quoted by PA, Maresca said: “In football, I don’t think talent is enough. You need more. It’s not only about Cole [Palmer], it’s about all the attacking players that we have.
“You see how Noni in this moment is pressing forward, running back. He’s doing very good not just because he is scoring.
“It’s something we need from all the rest; Pedro [Neto], Joao [Felix], Christo [Nkunku], Misha [Mudryk], Jadon [Sancho]. Today in football it is not enough to be good on the ball, you have to be good on the ball and off.”
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Can rivals break into starting lineup?
Jadon Sancho – alongside Madueke and Palmer – are in line to start against Liverpool on Sunday, the trio incredibly having 10 goals and eight assists between them in the Premier League.
Of the other quartet, they have just four Premier League starts between them, with Felix the only one not to feature from the opening whistle in the top flight.
For the time being, they are generally being restricted to starts in cup competitions, something that will realistically not change unless Chelsea fail to impress in the final third at Anfield.
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