Levi Colwill is a really interesting guy, a good talker and one of the biggest winners from Enzo Maresca’s time at Chelsea so far.
The young defender was the new coach’s first choice at centre back since the day he arrived in the summer, and Colwill has built on last season’s successes (which were all too often interrupted by injuries) with a solid start to this season.
Speaking in a really interesting interview on the Chelsea website today, Colwill not only explained about how his “role” had changed under the new coach and what that entailed, but also went into some detail about Maresca’s work ethic and what separated him from the previous coaches Colwill had worked under, including the much-hyped Roberto de Zerbi at Brighton:
“He’s a perfectionist. Even though we’ve got young players in the dressing room, he doesn’t treat us like that. The standards he sets are so high and that’s what we need to hit every day,” Colwill said of his new boss.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s training or playing a match, you’ve got to be on your A game and give everything you can to him, and he gives that back. That’s why he is an amazing manager and will do amazing things in football.”
Maresca showing adaptability that his mentor might not have
That’s about as ringing an endorsement as yo udcan
Maresca has often been compared to Pep Guardiola because of their time working together, but so far their similarities seem to be in their intensity (and their appearance) more than their football philosophy.
Maresca hopes to move to a more controlled, Pep style football with time, but his adaptability in shaping his philosophy to suit the squad has already set him apart from the Catalan coach.