Enzo Maresca says Noni Madueke “must work more” to secure a place in the Chelsea side despite scoring in their 5-1 win at Southampton.
Madueke had scored only once before the trip to St Mary’s and was left out of the starting XI against Aston Villa last weekend.
The England international found the net with a fine angled shot against the Saints and also set one up for Christopher Nkunku – but Maresca insists he can do more.
He 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.
“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.”
That’s his manoeuvre. 😍#CFC | #SOUCHE pic.twitter.com/AyiLBFnviP
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 5, 2024
Maresca made seven changes for the game on the South Coast, with Madueke starting alongside Cole Palmer, Joao Felix and Nkunku, with Pedro Neto, Nicolas Jackson and Jadon Sancho among the substitutes.
Their five-star display highlights the depth Maresca has within his Blues squad, with the Italian insisting competition for places means players need to regularly perform.
“There are players in behind that are ready. We have four wingers that are all very good,” the Italian added.
“Pedro and Noni for the right side, Jadon and Misha [Mykhailo Mudryk] for the left side and in the moment one of them drops for whatever reason, there is one in behind that is ready.
“Noni is not allowed to drop because Pedro is there and doing fantastic. If Pedro drops then Noni is there.
“This is what they have to understand if we want to be there or be close for something important.”
Chelsea remained in second place with the victory as they closed the gap behind Liverpool to seven points following their 3-3 draw at Newcastle.
