Enzo Maresca hails Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall after first Chelsea win
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca was full of praises for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall after the latter played a crucial role in the former’s first win at the club.
The 25-year-old, having arrived in London—like Maresca—from Leicester City this summer, impressed in his one-half performance as the Blues got their first win of the season by beating Club América 3-0 in their latest pre-season friendly.
After game, Maresca was quick to praise the man who played a crucial role in his title-winning Leicester side last term.
“From outside, you can see Kiernan is talking a different language to his teammates in terms of he knows exactly what he needs to do on and off the ball.
“This is because we have worked together for one year. On the ball sometimes he is going to receive it wide, running in behind.
“I asked him to speak with his teammates on the pitch because he knows exactly how we are to move and he is going to help us this season many times.”
Maresca speaking to Chelsea’s in-house media team after the game.
Dewsbury-Hall joined Chelsea at the beginning of last month in a £30m move. He was a key cog in Maresca’s machine last season as he made 49 appearances across all competitions, scoring 12 goals and providing 15 assists to take the Foxes back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
The late-blooming midfielder has signed a six-year deal at Stamford Bridge, which is set to run until June 2030.
Chelsea have three more friendlies coming up before they kick off their Premier League campaign with a home affair against reigning champions, Man City.
Dewsbury-Hall set to be key for Maresca
Given the influx of players at Chelsea, one can expect Dewsbury-Hall to find himself challenging for minutes on the pitch in a way he didn’t have to at Leicester.
However, the Englishman clearly backs himself to perform whenever called upon, and given his relationship with Maresca, which has carried forward from their time together at the King Power, one can expect him to be a key part of the Italian coach’s dressing room regardless how much game time he gets in the coming season.
Expect Dewsbury-Hall to turn out to be a silently lethal signing if Chelsea play the rest of their cards well.
