Chelsea star Reece James has just shared the key message Enzo Maresca is telling the squad during pre-season.
The appointment of Enzo Maresca, 44, this summer as the new head coach means it’s yet another period of change at Chelsea.
Reece James is surely one of the individuals at Stamford Bridge that he’s most looking forward to coaching. In fact, the 24-year-old has already played in a new position this summer in a friendly match.
The right-back inverted into central midfield on Thursday during Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Wrexham. In an interview on Chelsea’s YouTube channel, Maresca praised James for his display in midfield.
Reece James shares first message from Enzo Maresca
Chelsea’s James has explained that the new head coach has been drilling into the squad a main message that he loves his side to have possession of the football.
James told ESPN: “The new manager so far has been very good. He’s set the standards really high and I’m excited for the new season to start.”
“The first message [to the group] is he loves the ball. He loves playing, he’s very tactical and so [there’s been] a lot of information, a lot of understanding and a lot of playing and making mistakes to learn quicker.”
If you’ve watched a Maresca team before, it’s pretty obvious that he coaches them to dictate the ball and control games with possession.
FBREF data records that Leicester City boasted 61.6% possession last season in the Championship, which ultimately led to them winning the division title and securing promotion under Maresca’s guidance.
It’s going to be intriguing to see if the Italian boss can coach Chelsea to control matches in the same way in the Premier League.
Do Chelsea have the players to keep the ball?
In terms of technical footballers that are comfortable on the ball, Chelsea are fortunate enough to possess plenty of them.
Let’s see which centre-backs emerge as the main starters next season because they’ll need to be great passers that are confident dictating play.
The likes of Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill are the type of ball-playing central defenders that should suit Maresca.
- READ MORE: The stats from Wrexham match show how important position is in Chelsea’s XI under Enzo Maresca
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