captain, Reece James, who recently returned from a prolonged hamstring injury to make his first start of the season in the recent loss to Liverpool, marking his first competitive game under Maresca.
When asked on Friday how James helped command the team in his time out injured, Maresca told reporters: “He is on the way, he’s doing well, he’s progressing, but from Reece, I expected more also in terms of leadership.
“Most of the time when they are captain, they think that because they are captain they have more, ‘because I am the captain, I expect that you give me more’.
“For me, because you are the captain you have to give more. You have to give more than the rest. And sometimes it’s, ‘OK, I am the captain I can give less’, no.
“He’s one of the captains and I expected from him, and his teammates expected from him, to give always more in terms of leadership in general.”
James has played 159 games for Chelsea since graduating from the club’s academy and making his senior debut in 2019.
James was rested for Chelsea’s Europa League match against Panathinaikos on Thursday evening but is anticipated to play in Sunday’s Premier League fixture at home against Newcastle United.
Considered one of the top players worldwide in his position when healthy, James has been hampered by recurring injuries, limiting him to only 11 games last season.
He was appointed as club captain by Chelsea’s former manager, Mauricio Pochettino, in August 2023.
Chelsea has started the Premier League season with four wins out of eight matches and will take on Newcastle on Sunday.
