Enzo Maresca said he left Noni Madueke out of his Chelsea team over his performances in training and told him “he must work more” to keep a regular place.
The 22-year-old was left out of Chelsea’s line-up for their three-goal win over Aston Villa on Sunday but played from the start in Wednesday’s 5-1 victory at Southampton, scoring his second Premier League goal since August.
The England international had provided the assist for Christopher Nkunku’s 17th-minute goal before scoring himself 11 minutes before the break with a fine shot from the angle.
However Maresca has called for more from Madueke, who was substituted off for Jadon Sancho in the 72nd minute at St Mary’s.
“Noni can do much more,” the Chelsea head coach said after the match. “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.
“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.”
Madueke has featured in 16 matches across all competitions for Chelsea this season, starting 12 of their 14 league matches. Maresca’s side return to action on Sunday with a trip to Tottenham Hotspur.
(Top photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
