Enzo Maresca says Chelsea need more than talent if they are to succeed

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca warned his players that talent alone will not haul the club back into contention to challenge for the Premier League title after a torrid two years in which attitudes within the squad have repeatedly been questioned.

The Italian’s perceived ability to install a winning mentality, as observed in his success in leading Leicester to the Championship title in May at the end of his first season in charge, was a key factor in persuading Chelsea’s owners to appoint him as successor to former boss Mauricio Pochettino.

The 44-year-old’s work so far with his young squad will be given an early examination on Sunday when champions Manchester City visit Stamford Bridge for Maresca’s first game in charge.

There was supporter backlash on more than one occasion last season as the team languished in mid-table for much of the campaign, particularly after damaging losses at home to Wolves in February and away to Arsenal in April.

And the new head coach said that doubts about the culture within the club will need to be answered in order to move on from two hugely disappointing seasons and for the team’s obvious potential to be fulfilled.

“They are full of talent,” said Maresca. “But today in football, probably talent is not enough. You need something more. We are trying to create a culture, not only inside the pitch but outside the pitch.

“We need to create something important that is not just good players. It’s not enough, especially when you wear the Chelsea shirt. You need extra things, extra behaviours. This is what we are trying to build.”

Chelsea finished sixth last term under Pochettino, recording a five-match winning run to end the campaign.

It marked a significant improvement on the previous season, the first since Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium bought the club, when the team placed 12th despite a massive outlay on transfers.

The current total spent on players under Clearlake stands at around £1.2billion, with recruitment focusing heavily on youth in a bid to secure long-term success.

The result has been a squad that has shown naivety and appeared unbalanced in certain areas, most notably lacking in leadership.

“Inside the pitch or outside the pitch, it’s small details,” said Maresca. “For instance, in one of our (pre-season) friendly games, one of the opposition players kicked in a bad way our player. No one from the rest of (our team) was around our player to defend him.

“I analyse things. I try to defend my team-mates. I go close, defend my team-mates. This kind of thing, to become a team, you need that. You need to be close, more friends, inside the pitch like brothers. You have to defend each other. Otherwise, you will struggle.

“It’s not enough to be good players. It’s not enough.

“Sometimes you need to build leadership because sometimes you don’t have the players who are able or who are in charge. You have to give them responsibility.”