Mauricio Pochettino has special moment on pitch with player he called “unbelievable” | OneFootball

In his press conference tonight, Mauricio Pochettino decided to give some well earned love to one of the players who has struggled at times since coming to Chelsea.

Pochettino  had already heavily praised some of the academy products earlier in the presser, but next his attention turned to winger Noni Madueke.

The former PSV man got Chelsea on the front foot with some really dangerous forward raids in the first half. It wasn’t just that, he also did great work defensively, protecting the inexperienced Alfie Gilchrist against Heung-Min Son, as Pochettino pointed out:

“Noni Madueke today, unbelievable. He did a fantastic job with the ball and without the ball. He helped Alfie defend and that is what we needed for the future to build this spirit, very competitive.”

It was very notable that the manager spoke to Noni on the pitch after the game, taking him aside for a really nice chat and a hug. We’re sure he was passing on exactly these sorts of messages: well done, that’s what I want, don’t get complacent.

Noni Madueke celebrates an important win.

A bright start – at long last

It’s been very clear through the season that Pochettino has wanted more from Madueke – more effort in defence and more effort in attack. When he said earlier in this presser he was so pleased with the way his team “competed,” this was clearly what he was getting at. The potential is there.

Of course we need to see it every week, but now that circumstances have handed Noni an extended run in the team and he’s been able to please his coach with it, we’re starting to see him affect games more and more.

This weekend against West Ham he will have another big test, and if he performs this well again, we will start to really get excited about his future.