NTTF Podcast Marc Albrighton Exclusive: ‘Ruthless’ Maresca won’t accept egos and will aim to make Blues more ‘robotic’

Speaking exclusively on our No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Sam Allardyce was joined by Premier League winner Marc Albrighton to discuss why both Enzo Maresca and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall will succeed at Chelsea this season, and the need for the ex-Leicester boss to show some ‘ruthlessness’.

Since Enzo Maresca took the reins at Chelsea, the Blues have bolstered their ranks with 11 new players. One of these additions, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, played a key role in Maresca's Championship-winning campaign with Leicester last season. Having spent seven seasons alongside Dewsbury-Hall at the Foxes, Albrighton is confident in the midfielder's ability to make a significant impact at Stamford Bridge this year.

“I think he's [Dewsbury-Hall] got a head start on some of the players at Chelsea, in terms of, he knows exactly what Maresca wants, and what he expects of somebody in that position. Because I found that his [Maresca’s way of playing was so different to anything I've experienced before, so the fact that he’s [Dewsbury-Hall] got that knowledge from last season, he can take that to Chelsea with him.”

“Maresca is football-obsessed. He lives and breathes it. He's there first thing in the morning, and some days he'll just stay over at the training ground because he's there so late.”

“I found him to be a lot different to anyone that I'd worked with before, with the ideas that he's got, and he's got a philosophy.”

Enzo Maresca’s comments about the size of the Chelsea squad have attracted some controversy, with some senior players like Raheem Sterling being told to leave or face having no game time at Stamford Bridge. However, Albrighton revealed that this is nothing new for Enzo Maresca and that his ruthless style will render the right results.

He said: “I think he [Maresca] is ruthless. I think that as a manager, you need to have a certain amount of that ruthlessness in you. In the situation that he's at Chelsea, I think you've got to be ruthless to some extent.”

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“He [Maresca] showed it a couple of times at Leicester during last season. I look at players like Connor Coady, who hardly got a game at all last year, but at the start, he was probably going to be the main centre-back. He’d played for England recently, but he got an injury in pre-season and all of a sudden, he just wasn’t in the fold. We [Leicester] got promoted because of it, so you can’t question it.”

However, Sam Allardyce does think that despite the Italian’s ruthless streak, he has made a mistake in letting Connor Gallagher leave the club.

“Gallagher was one of their own, and fans all love one of their own. Why can he not fit into Chelsea?

“There's always room for somebody who sits and works hard and shuts the opposition down. Kante was one for Chelsea and Leicester. He was great at reading the situation and gave the back four a lot of rest. There's always room for that player that links the whole team together.

“You need a Conor Gallagher in that team to win the ball back to create the next opportunity.”

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