Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca explained that Noni Madueke missed Saturday’s 5-0 FA Cup win against Morecambe through illness, rather than further punishment.
Madueke was shout out publicly de Maresca earlier this season after being left on the bench by Chelsea3-0 win over Aston Villa in December. The Italian coach has criticized the winger’s attitude in training and accused him of relaxing after putting in a good performance.
Soon Maresca welcomed the striker back to the team only until then leave it out from the squad that lost against Fulham on Christmas Day. The Chelsea boss offered a cautious explanation at the time, describing the call as a “technical decision”.
However, there appears to be nothing untoward in Madueke’s absence against the League Two strugglers on Saturday. “It was because he didn’t finish the session yesterday,” explained Maresca after looking at his side. enter the fourth round of the cup. “It was bad.”
As has been the case in most of Chelsea’s Cup games, Maresca fielded a youthful squad. After a testing first 40 minutes, in which Christopher Nkunku saved a penalty, the Blues ended the scoring before a flurry of goals in the second half gave the scoreboard a layer of gloss that covered by the determined spirit of Morecambe.
While Madueke missed out, Saturday’s game delivered Reece James the chance to make his first appearance for the club in two months. The club captain lasted 45 minutes before he and midfielder Romeo Lavia were taken off during the scheduled half-time substitutions.
“The idea is to slowly build the right state,” explained Maresca. “Especially for Reece, we have to be a little more careful. The good thing is that they both played 45 minutes and finished well without any problems. We can start to help them and bring the right condition.”
