'I expected more': Enzo Maresca explains what's disappointed him about £250k-a-week Chelsea player
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has explained what’s disappointed him about one first-team player so far this season.
It’s been quite refreshing to see that Enzo Maresca, 44, is very open and honest with everything. The Chelsea manager has definitely made a great early impression since his appointment at Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Despite huge rotation and changes with the Blues squad in the opening months of the campaign, Maresca appears to have most of his players on side. For example, Mykhailo Mudryk sprinted to Maresca to celebrate his goal against Panathinaikos.
- READ MORE: Enzo Maresca makes promise to Chelsea fans in his first official post after joining Instagram
Enzo Maresca wants more leadership from Reece James
During a very honest press conference this week, Maresca admitted that he “expected more” from Chelsea captain Reece James in terms of leadership.
The 24-year-old right-back only made his first appearance of the season last weekend, starting and impressing in the defeat to Liverpool. However, it sounds like the skipper hasn’t been doing enough away from the pitch to impress the head coach.
Maresca said via Football.London: “Yes, I spoke with him and I expected from him more in terms of leadership, inside the changing room and for different kind of things. So he’s on the way, he’s doing well, he’s progressing but from Reece I expected more also in terms of leadership.”
“Most of the time when they are captain, they think that because they are captain they have more: ‘because I am the captain, I expect that you give me more.’ For me, because you are the captain you have to give more. You have to give more than the rest.
“And sometimes: ‘okay, I am the captain I can give less’, no. He’s one of the captains and I expected from him, and his teammates expected from him, to give always more in terms of leadership in general.”
Enzo Maresca driving the standards
At first, Maresca’s comments on James feel extremely bold and quite shocking.
However, we’re taking it as a good sign that the manager is willing to speak so openly about such a senior figure.
James, who earns £250,000-a-week (Spotrac), doesn’t come across as a natural captain from the outside looking in. Let’s remember that the talented defender is an academy graduate that knows the club inside out, though.
It feels like a huge nudge from Maresca to James to raise his standards, so we hope this approach kicks him into a new gear rather than impact him in a negative way.
from Latest Chelsea News and Updates - The Chelsea Chronicle https://ift.tt/JLwQ5I6
Post a Comment