Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has revealed that Man Utd loanee Jadon Sancho has missed the last two matches “for tactical reasons”.
Sancho joined the Blues on a season-long loan from Man Utd in the summer, with his move expected to become permanent at the end of 2024/25.
He started very well at Stamford Bridge, assisting in his first three Premier League appearances for the club.
However, the 24-year-old has been an unused substitute in Chelsea‘s last two matches against Panathinaikos in the Europa Conference League and Newcastle United in the Premier League.
“Last two games, he didn’t play for tactical decisions. No more than that,” Maresca told reporters on ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash against Eddie Howe’s side.
“Sancho is doing well since he arrived. Players can’t maintain the same level all season.
“He’s going to play many games, he has to continue to work hard.”
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Meanwhile, Maresca has praised a “beautiful” culture of English football for breeding drama that makes it the envy of the rest of Europe.
Five of the 10 Premier League games played over the weekend saw the result change in stoppage time, with Brentford’s 4-3 win over Ipswich on Saturday and Manchester United’s late 2-1 defeat to West Ham the pick of them.
Wolves fought back to draw 2-2 with Brighton despite falling two goals behind as late as the 85th minute, while Everton and Bournemouth each snatched a point at the death in their games against Fulham and Aston Villa.
Maresca – who was spared a nail-biting climax in his team’s 2-1 win against Newcastle – suggested supporters in England do not realise how lucky they are.
“It’s the reason why people are so in love with the Premier League,” the Italian said. “You’re from England, you don’t realise how the Premier League is (viewed) abroad.
“One of the reasons why is that the game is never finished here. In different countries, my country for instance, if you’re 2-0 up last five minutes, you can have five or six players that fall down for 20 seconds, half an hour. It’s difficult to come back.
“In England it’s a different culture. It’s probably the reason why it’s so beautiful.”
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Victory on Sunday was Chelsea’s fifth in nine league games and continued the impressive start made under Maresca.
They sit fifth in the table, a point outside the Champions League places, though the head coach said returning the team to Europe’s top competition did not feature among the targets set by club bosses.
“The club never mentioned to me about top four,” he said. “They always said the target is to build something important for the next four, five years.
“For sure we’re working every day to build something important. Could it be a pressure for the players? I don’t think so, because if you go game by game you can see yourself where you are in that moment.
“If you start to think about top four or top six, you’re thinking about May, June. For me it’s too far.”
Maresca has enjoyed better injury luck that his recent predecessors and has a fully fit squad to choose from for Wednesday’s re-match against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup fourth round at St James’ Park.
That means Wesley Fofana will be available despite landing awkwardly on his knee during the first half on Sunday.
The defender missed the entirety of last season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury but has been central to Chelsea’s success this campaign.
“He had a bad moment in the first half, but he’s a fighter,” Maresca said. “He played with pain. I really love Wes because it’s not easy after one year out to come back and be a fighter.
“He’s fighting with pain. When you have that kind of injury, you’re going to feel pain for the rest of your career unfortunately.”
