Noni Madueke hoping to not do a disservice to the new Chelsea blueprint

Noni Madueke is a big believer in the Chelsea project, and had spoken before of his conviction that this bold, risky plan will bear fruit in the not-so-distant future.

But that will require all (or at least most) of our young stars to actually live up to their expectations, both in terms of peak ability and in terms of steady consistency. And we also have to turn individual talent into collective excellence. And all of that is a work in progress and won’t happen overnight.

Which is where belief like Madueke’s will be needed.

“You know the blueprint of the club. If they have recruited you to come and join the project it says something about your ability. That’s good to know in the back of your mind.

“But it’s not just about recruiting talented players. It’s about making a winning team, and that is the next step we have to take this season. Silverware is so important to Chelsea and that is the direction we have to head in for sure.

“If you look at the squad we have, the depth, we would be doing ourselves a disservice if we thought we couldn’t be right up there.”

And while it’s mostly about the players, it’s also about the coaches. Fortunately, Noni thinks we’ve got a good one in Pochettino — and not just because of their shared former affiliation with Spurs.

“He’s tough with me, but I probably need that. He’s transparent as well which is really important, to know where you stand and what he expects from you. He knows when to be really tough with me and when to put an arm around me. I can’t fault him.

“He’s a really good man manager. He’s created a culture where we are brothers off the pitch. It helps we have a young squad so we are with each other a lot anyway. We are lucky to have him.”

-Noni Madueke; source: Chelsea FC

Madueke has shown towards the end of last season why he was recruited for this project; this year he has to show that more consistently. He began the season while still dealing with an injury, but he looks fully fit now and ready to make things happen.