Revealed: The three players Enzo Maresca has singled out amid lack of Chelsea leadership

Maresca has put his cards on the table. How will his players react and step up?

Chelsea have already had several players wear the captain's armband this season. / IMAGO / Every Second Media

The Chelsea leadership debate has continued after Enzo Maresca's latest admission on the club's lack of proper leaders.

Following Maresca's summer arrival, the captain's armband has already been passed around the team to multiple players, including Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Axel Disasi, Levi Colwill, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.

Chelsea's young squad are gaining experience game by game. It's highlighted in the record-breaking statistic, as provided by Opta, with the Blues being the only team in Premier League history to go eight games into a season without using anyone over the age of 27.

As a result, leadership experience isn't a big characteristic within the group, which was pointed out by Maresca, who publicly demanded more from club captain James after an honest conversation with the 24-year-old following his return from injury.

"I spoke with him and I expect from him more in terms of leadership inside the changing room," Maresca said. "He's on the way, he's doing well, he's progressing but I expect more."

Maresca has ensured every Chelsea player is aligned with his ideas and values. / IMAGO / Action Plus

Once again, after Chelsea's 4-1 win over Panathinaikos in the Conference League, Maresca highlighted the importance of communication with his group of players.

"It's very important. It's part of our job (being a good communicator). Especially at half-time when we have 10-15 minutes to adjust things. We need to use the right words because the time is short. In terms of motivation, this kind of thing, I just try to do everything to help."

Maresca, 44, accepted James is not the only one, however the most important due to being the club captain, and is aware Chelsea need 'proper leaders' moving forward. Defensive trio Tosin Adarabioyo, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella were all name-checked by the Blues head coach.

"(James is) a reserved guy, as you said, but not only him," added Maresca. "But when you don't have a proper leader, you need to build that. I think we don't have a proper leader. We don't have guys, you can see them… probably Tosin is one of the guys that is.

Cody Gakpo (right) is challenged by Reece James (left) during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Chelsea. / IMAGO / Propaganda Photo

"So the rest we need to build them. So Reece is there, he's on the way but he’s not there. So he needs to make an effort in that one. The one that is doing fantastic in this kind of thing is Levi.

"Levi probably at the beginning of the season was not a leader but now you can see that he is one of the guys that is always speaking. We need to build that. We need as much as we have, then it’s perfect. Marc Cucurella is one of the guys, so we need more and more."

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