“I want more from him” “Am disappointed”: Enzo Maresca why he’s disappointed in £250k-a-week Chelsea player after what he did
Enzo Maresca, the manager of Chelsea, has revealed what has let him down about one member in the first squad thus far this season.
The 44-year-old Enzo Maresca’s candor and openness about everything has been pleasant. Since taking over at Stamford Bridge in the summer, the Chelsea boss has undoubtedly created a fantastic first impression.
Maresca seems to have the majority of his players on board, even if the Blues club underwent significant rotation and changes in the first few months of the season. For instance, Mykhailo Mudryk celebrated his goal against Panathinaikos by running to Maresca.
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.