Cesar Azpilicueta is known to be an extremely versatile player for both club and country. When he first arrived at Chelsea from Marseille he came in as a right-back, but quickly had to switch to left back. How did that happen? Well, Azpilicueta may have the answer as to why he has become such a valuable asset for the London based side.
Now this may not necessarily be the answer as to how he became such a complete fullback, but it does help decode as to why every time he plays, he plays at 100%. When speaking to Marca, the Spanish newspaper, Azpilicueta revealed that when it comes to training at Chelsea, Mourinho does not mess about!
“Mou is a hard task-master. I don’t how you see him, but he really is very demanding; you have to be at 100% for every training session.”
It doesn’t matter how you played in the last match, you have to perform. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done before, you have to show it every day. That keeps the team at its peak continually
Obviously he had to train and work extra hard to displace a player with the calibre of Ashley Cole and he has managed to maintain that level for about 18 months now since he first deputised at left-back. He now has become an excellent player for Mourinho and is arguably the best left-back in the Premier League, considering it isn’t even his natural position makes it an even greater achievement for the Spaniard.
Furthermore, his link-up play with Eden Hazard is one of the many reasons as to why Hazard has become such an invaluable player for Chelsea and his communication with John Terry and Thibaut Courtois is, at times, second to none, which is also one of the main reasons as to why Chelsea rarely concede from the left side.
Azpilicueta may not be lying when saying that when it comes to training 100% is a must for him and his teammates, but many times this past season Mourinho set a lineup including players such as Costa or Ivanovic who had trained maybe one day that week due to injury.
If they couldn’t train everyday and obviously couldn’t train at 100% then is Cesar lying or is Mourinho a bit more lenient with certain players?
