Scary news from Chelsea’s training ground makes Maresca look like a lame duck | OneFootball

The Athletic’s two Chelsea men, Liam Twomey and Simon Johnson have written a really interesting long read today about the behind the scenes action of Chelsea’s latest slump.

They report that Chelsea’s senior players “initiated a team meeting” after the second loss in a week to Brighton to try and sort things out.

In the meeting, “frank words were exchanged. Some of the key points made were that standards in training needed to improve, the players needed to be more serious and together, and that individual egos and ambitions must be set aside for the good of the team.”

Everyone seemed happy with the outcome – “the consensus was very positive, that honest conversation had been highly productive in terms of clearing the air.”

Worrying news of falling standards at Chelsea hint at a manager without enough power

Enzo Maresca oversees training. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

While we’re delighted that such a meeting was had and that things like this were discussed, it’s seriously worrying that training standards had fallen so low that players were being forced to police that themselves.

We’ve really liked Enzo Maresca’s disciplinary streak so far – at least we thought we did. How on earth has an intense, hands on manager from the Pep Guardiola coaching tree allowed his sessions to fall off so badly that the players are the ones who are recognising it’s a problem? What was the point in punishing Noni Madueke and Renato Veiga for their training standards if now the whole squad feel that things aren’t being taken seriously?

If it’s true, it shows that Maresca doesn’t have nearly as much control of this group as he would like, and as we would like. If a manager can’t get standards in training to an elite level, he either needs to be given more power, or removed entirely if he can’t take control.