So far, Enzo Maresca’s time at Chelsea has been pretty straightforward in terms of dealing with the press. He’s very straightforward and honest, he keeps the company line and doesn’t cause too much controversy. But his comments about Reece James this week changed all that.
Maybe it’s just the new manager starting to get comfortable in his job and feel he’s got a little more power to exert. Maybe it was inevitable some controversy would come up eventually given how many pressers he does. Either way, his criticism of his captain’s leadership was pretty strong stuff by the bland standards of most manager’s efforts in front of the mic.
Keane defends Maresca over James comments
Speaking on Sky’s Super Sunday, Roy Keane (of course) has defended Maresca’s thoughts and his right to say them out loud. You can see the former Man U midfielder speaking in the clip embedded here:
“James has been injured, but Maresca sees him at the training ground. Obviously he got back in the team last week. I’d have no problem with a manager saying that, that he wants more from him” Keane commented.
“What’s the problem with that? It’s nice every now and again to upset your players… maybe he’s just trying to gee him up a little? We know what a brilliant player he is… maybe he just wants more from him?”
It’s obviously fair enough for a manager to demand more from his players – that’s their job. It’s going public with it that’s the risk. It’s still not necessarily off limits, it’s just a bit of a gamble from the coach. Some players will respond well to that sort of treatment, others not so much. Let’s hope James is in the latter camp – he starts today with a point to prove.