ENZO MARESCA claims that Noni Madueke must “do more”… despite the Chelsea star grabbing a goal and an assist last night.
The England winger, 22, was in fine form as the Blues routed Southampton 5-1 at St Mary’s.
ReutersNoni Madueke scored and laid on an assist for the Blues last night[/caption]
GettyEnzo Maresca has not been entirely satisfied with Madueke’s work[/caption]
But boss Maresca wants Madueke to “show more ambition” – admitting that he hasn’t been impressed by his player’s application in training.
Speaking after last night’s match, the Italian said: “Noni 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.
“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.”
Prior to last night’s Southampton drubbing, Madueke had scored just once since netting a hat-trick against Wolves in August.
After being critical of Madueke’s application, Maresca did then offer some praise too.
The 44-year-old continued: “But overall, he is doing great, he is doing fantastic. He is doing even better in terms of numbers.
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“Noni has to understand he has to work more because he can be much, much, much better.”
Chelsea took the lead at St Mary’s in just the seventh minute when Axel Disasi headed home Enzo Fernandez’s corner.
Saints didn’t take long to level, with Kyle Walker-Peters producing a brilliant piece of skill on the byline before teeing up Joe Aribo to score.
Madueke then profited on a poor pass by Southampton stopper Joe Lumley, teeing up Christopher Nkunku for an easy finish.
The winger then grabbed a goal of his own, shifting the ball onto his left foot before driving the ball beyond Lumley into the bottom corner.
Things went from bad to worse for the home side before half-time, with Jack Stephens sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella‘s hair.
Cole Palmer belted the ball in from close range to make it 4-1, before Jadon Sancho completed the rout late on.
Chelsea’s commanding victory saw them rise to second in the Premier League table.
