Chelsea's undroppable for West Ham clash revealed after six-word Mauricio Pochettino admission

Thursday evening felt big for Noni Madueke.

After scoring a fine goal against Aston Villa a few days before, there were plenty of eyes on the 22-year-old winger to see if he could continue his form. That, in a nutshell, has been the problem for him since signing for Chelsea almost 18 months ago. Consistency. Or lack thereof.

When Madueke is not performing in an attacking sense, he has often been criticised for his work off-the-ball. In fact, just over 24 hours before, Mauricio Pochettino called on the England Under-21s international to improve when his side do not have possession.

«He is doing well,» Pochettino said on Madueke on Wednesday. «He scored against Aston Villa, he is improving a lot without the ball.

»The challenge for him is to improve without the ball, to be more connected in the defensive side. He can [do that]. I hope he can take advantage of the possibility to play more until the end of the season."

Against Tottenham, though, Madueke improved drastically in that regard. It was a performance that encapsulated his recent progress and the fact he is maturing with every single game. Pochettino noticed it and singled him out.

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That in itself speaks volumes because Pochettino rarely singles out players after matches. «Noni Madueke today, for me, [was] unbelievable,» the Chelsea head coach explained following the win against Spurs.

«If you analyse him from the start of the season; all the conversations and meetings, clips and videos, things like this. He was capable today of doing a fantastic job with the ball – of course, he is an offensive