Chelsea’s fittest player was applauded for winning the dreaded bleep test upon returning for pre-season.
This week Chelsea officially began their pre-season, with clips of new head coach Enzo Maresca putting the players through their paces having circulated online.
As is tradition among clubs, pre-season tends to feature the dreaded bleep test to help assess a players' general fitness.
The test requires players to run 20 meters back and forth across a marked track keeping time with beeps.
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Every minute or so, the time between beeps gets shorter, which forces participants to run faster.
If a player fails to reach their marker in time, they are cautioned, with a second caution ending the test for that individual.
And, as can be seen in the below video, French full-back Malo Gusto was the last person standing for Chelsea as the squad underwent the gruelling fitness assessment. Gusto was widely applauded by his teammates and coaches for the accomplishment.
Elsewhere, Maresca said he was looking to bring more aggression to his Chelsea team for the coming campaign.
“When you join a club you try to analyse what the club and team needs to improve and do the right things,” he said on Monday.
“For me, it’s clear we need to create as soon as possible the right mentality and culture, a culture the fans can be proud of. We are going to try to be an aggressive team on the ball and off the ball and we need to create this connection between the fans and the club, especially at home.”
Maresca added. “I’m very proud to be an Italian manager here again. Probably there is something between Chelsea as a club, as a family, and Italian people that works well.”
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Topics: Chelsea, Enzo Maresca
Chris Byfield