Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has urged Noni Madueke to be more “ambitious” after revealing the winger was axed from his side over poor performances in training.
Madueke had started 11 consecutive Premier League matches before being dropped for Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Aston Villa.
However, he was recalled to the side for Wednesday’s trip to Southampton, and responded with a goal and an assist in a 5-1 win.
The England international could easily have added to that tally, missing several glaring second-half opportunities, and Maresca believes he must show the desire to fulfil his scoring potential.
Noni has to understand he has to work more because he can be much, much, much better
“With Noni I have a personal relationship, in terms of he can do much more,” Maresca said. “In the moment that he starts to score or assist and is happy, he starts to drop a little bit.
“The reason he was not playing [against Aston Villa] is because I don’t like the way he trained. He has to understand that he has to train every day good, he has to be ambitious. If he scores one tonight, he has to go for the second one, the third one.
“He has to be ambitious, to give more assists. But overall, he’s doing great, he’s doing fantastic. He’s doing even better in terms of numbers, in assists and goals. But Noni has to understand he has to work more because he can be much, much, much better.”
