Enzo Maresca counting on Chelsea custodian Robert Sanchez next season
According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea’s new manager, Enzo Maresca, has told the Blues board that he likes Robert Sanchez and feels he can get the best out of him. Maresca wants the Spanish goalkeeper to be the Blues No. 1 goalkeeper next season under him.
Sanchez joined the Blues last summer from Brighton & Hove Albion and lived up to the standard, making excellent saves. He was also an upgrade on Kepa Arrizabalaga, who joined Real Madrid on loan. However, Sanchez’s injury saw the Spaniard replaced by Dorde Petrovic, and after that, the Serbian remained a preferred choice under Mauricio Pochettino.
Sanchez will now have a big chance to win back the No. 1 spot next season, as Maresca feels the club hasn’t seen his potential yet. The former Brighton goalkeeper is only 26 and can still refine certain areas of the game.
Despite Sanchez missing most of the game, he had the highest percentage of saves compared to Petrovic. His was 70.5%, while Petrovic’s was 65.7%. Sanchez had better shot-stopping stats despite playing fewer games than the Serbian, and it feels like he will get his No. 1 back again.
However, Sanchez isn’t a bad goalkeeper when he is fully focused and thinks straight. But that’s not easy to get out of him. Maresca has helped many players during his time at Manchester City and Leicester City.
Cole Palmer and Romeo Lavia, who went on to excel at Southampton and Chelsea, have evolved under his tutelage. Cesare Casadei also demonstrated his talent while on loan at Foxes. Given that Sanchez possesses every skill needed to become a world-class custodian, we can anticipate that the Italian coach will make the most of his abilities. Simply put, sometimes you need a manager who can guide you towards being the greatest player in the game.
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Maresca prefers possession-based football and will want his custodian to have an accurate passing range between the sticks, so Sanchez will need to work on his ball-playing from the back next season.