Enzo Maresca has revealed which Chelsea player he thinks can do "much, much better."
The Blues thumped Southampton 5-1 on Wednesday night to move up to second place in the Premier League and close the gap on league leaders Liverpool to seven points.
Axel Disasi opened the scoring on the night within just seven minutes when he headed in Enzo Fernandez's corner. After the home side levelled through Joe Aribo, Noni Madueke then teed up Christopher Nkunku, who was in for just his second Premier League start of the season, and scored one himself to give Chelsea a two-goal advantage. Saints captain Jack Stephens was then shown a red card for pulling Marc Cucurella's hair, before goals after the break from Cole Palmer and Jadon Sancho sealed an emphatic victory.
Madueke was named Man of the Match for his performance, but speaking after the game, Maresca said that he wants to see more from the England international, who was dropped for Chelsea's 3-0 win over Aston Villa at the weekend.
"He can do much more," said Maresca of the 22-year-old winger. "The moment he starts to score or assist and is happy, he starts to drop a little bit."
The Italian coach said that Madueke, who joined Chelsea from PSV Eindhoven last year, was omitted for the win over Villa because he did "not like the way he trained."
"He has to understand that he has to train every day good," Maresca explained. "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."
He added: "Noni has to understand he has to work more because he can be much, much, much better."
Sancho reacts to scoring first Chelsea goal
Sancho's goal against Southampton was his first for Chelsea since joining the club from Manchester United in the summer.
The Englishman, who replaced Madueke midway through the second-half, fired in at the near post after being fed through on goal by Malo Gusto.
As he celebrated the strike, he tapped the Chelsea badge on his shirt.
Speaking about his goal after the game, Sancho said: "I'm delighted. You know, I finally shot, so. I'm just over the moon that I got my goal."
On the challenges of being used as substitute, something he's had to get used to in recent weeks, he added: "I'm grateful whether I start or come on the pitch, as long as I get some minutes."
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