Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has explained that Noni Madueke missed Saturday’s 5-0 FA Cup win against Morecambe due to illness and not another suspension.
Madueke was publicly called out Maresca earlier this season after being benched for Chelsea3-0 win over Aston Villa in December. The Italian coach criticized the winger in training and accused him of giving up after showing a good game.
Maresca soon welcomed the striker back to the team only to then leave him out to the team that lost to Fulham on Boxing Day. The Chelsea boss gave a restrained explanation on the occasion, describing the call as a “technical decision”.
However, there appears to have been nothing untoward about Madueke’s absence against the League Two strugglers on Saturday. “It was only because he didn’t finish the session yesterday,” Maresca explained after looking at his side enters the fourth round of the cup. — He was not well.
As was the case in most of Chelsea’s cup games, Maresca fielded a young team. After a testing first 40 minutes, in which Christopher Nkunku saved a penalty, the Blues eventually broke the deadlock before a run of second-half goals added a layer of gloss to the result which covered by Morecambe’s brisk determination.
Although Madueke was absent, the game on Saturday offered Reece James a chance to make his first appearance for the club in two months. The club captain lasted 45 minutes before he – and returning midfielder Romeo Lavia – were both sent off during pre-planned half-time substitutions.
“The idea is to slowly build up the right state,” explained Maresca. “Especially for Reece, we have to be a bit 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 get the situation right.”
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