Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca believes tough love is the way to get the best out of his players as he defended his public criticism of Noni Madueke.
The England winger was restored to the starting XI for Wednesday’s 5-1 rout of Southampton and scored Chelsea’s third goal as they climbed to second in the Premier League.
After the game at St Mary’s, Maresca said he had not liked the way Madueke had trained ahead of last weekend’s win over Aston Villa, resulting in him being benched for the 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.
Those doubts were answered emphatically with a fine display against the league’s bottom side, as he first set up Christopher Nkunku to give Chelsea a 2-1 lead before scoring a marvellous solo goal, cutting in on his left foot and driving into the far corner.
“I said this the other day because I want the best for Noni and probably the only way to get the best from him is to push him every time,” Maresca said ahead of Sunday’s trip to Tottenham.
“I try to be, not a friend, but close to the players. But sometime even when you want to be friends, between friends when you say something wrong, sometimes he’s not happy. But he has to know that what you say is because you want to take care of him.
“The only reason I said this about Noni is because I want the best for him.”
The 22-year-old, a £28.5million signing from PSV Eindhoven in January 2023, has made great strides this season.
With five goals he has already matched his Premier League tally from last season and has established himself as Maresca’s preferred option on the right wing despite fierce competition.
He has also broken into the England team after receiving his first call-up in August, winning five caps during the Nations League under interim boss Lee Carsley.
Nevertheless, Maresca has shown himself to be ruthless when deemed necessary in terms of player selection and his public comments.
As well as telling England internationals Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell they had no place in his plans ahead of the new season, in October he was critical of captain Reece James whom he said was failing to show the expected level of leadership.
“The way I like to have relation with the players is to be quite close,” said Maresca. “You can see a little bit at (former club) Leicester I had a fantastic relationship with the players. I loved them.
“This is the way I like to have relation with the players. It’s the same thing I’m trying to do here.
“The problem is when you say something they don’t like they think you don’t want to be close, but it’s a way to show them I take care of them.
“It’s not for (showing who is boss). The same thing happened with Reece, when I talked about his leadership it’s because I want the best for him and I want him to improve. Noni is exactly the same.”
