Enzo Maresca’s press conference yesterday allowed the coach and journalists to get into some detail on Chelsea matters, given the opposition is the same as on Sunday.
One topic that came up a couple of times was Jadon Sancho, the winger who has lost his place in recent games, and faces a tough task to get back into the team with Mykhailo Mudryk now showing good form.
Maresca insisted that there was no specific problem with Sancho, and no reason behind his recent removal from the first team:
“Jadon is doing well since he arrived with us. For sure, he cannot maintain the same level all season because the amount of games is huge. So the last two games he didn’t play, not for any different reason, but just for a tactical and technical decision – no more than that,” Maresca assured journalists.
Maresca undermines his own argument with Sancho confession
However, he then rather undermined his own argument by pointing out that there were in fact some problems with Sancho’s training levels, it seems:
“For sure, because of the amount of games, he is going to play many games and the only thing he has to do is to continue to work hard. When we give him the chance, take it.”
We wouldn’t normally worry too much – this is just the sort of thing coaches say to get their players to perform. But Sancho has history. We hope this isn’t the start of a slippery slope.
