by Enzo Maresca made no secret of his frustration at having to answer a question about the Chelsea goalkeeper’s situation, but he surely saw it coming.
Chelsea got away with Robert Sanchez’s error-strewn performance in Saturday’s meeting with Brighton thanks to Cole Palmer’s four goals, but Maresca will know that any criticism of Sanchez this season also lands at his door.
After all, it was the Italian who restored Sanchez to his former status as Chelsea’s No.1.
Sanchez was directly responsible for both Brighton goals on Saturday. It is therefore no surprise that Maresca was asked whether Filip Jorgensen, who starts against Gent on Thursday, could use the Conference League as a springboard to eventually replace Sanchez in the Blues’ Premier League XI.
“Filip has to do well because we need him to succeed, not because he needs to put pressure on Robert,” Maresca said defiantly in his press conference ahead of Chelsea’s opening match at Stamford Bridge.
“I said after the match, usually we like to see the end of things and it was a mistake from Robert, but the mistake started with Malo [Gusto] because we conceded a chance, then we conceded a goal.
“It’s not Robert’s or Malo’s problem. We will make mistakes. I don’t think Filip should put pressure on Robert. We need him to play a good game because the team needs him.
One of Sanchez’s dropped goals against Brighton was due to a bad pass despite being brought back into the fold believing he was a better distributor than Djordje Petrovic – Chelsea’s No1 last season but now on loan. in Strasbourg.
A bad pass from Sanchez will only invite probing questions about Maresca’s decision-making, and the club has no history of respecting goalkeepers in recent years. The situation has been unstable since Edouard Mendy lost his place under Graham Potter at the end of 2022.
The inability of others to hold on to the No.1 shirt may have been part of what attracted Jorgensen to the challenge at Chelsea when the 22-year-old agreed to leave Villarreal for Stamford Bridge in July. The same goes for the reunion with his former teammate and friend from Villarreal, Nicolas Jackson.
Whatever Maresca says, showing his worth in Europe will see the clamor grow for Jorgensen to be promoted ahead of Sanchez.
Jorgensen is yet to feature in the league, but played in both of Chelsea’s Conference League play-off matches against Servette, before returning to the team in the 5–0 Carabao Cup win over Barrow the last week. Thursday’s match against Ghent is a new milestone in the quality of opposition he has faced.
Whatever Maresca says, showing his worth in Europe will see the clamor grow for Jorgensen to be promoted ahead of Sanchez, especially if the Spaniard makes further mistakes with big games against Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Arsenal on the horizon .
For Jorgensen, as for the entire Chelsea second row, the Conference League is not a nuisance but rather a platform to impress.
