Enzo Maresca addresses Chelsea goalkeeper decision after Robert Sanchez criticism | OneFootball

Filip Jorgensen an option to replace Spaniard following high-profile errors

Enzo Maresca is considering axing under-fire goalkeeper Robert Sanchez for Chelsea’s Premier League clash with West Ham on Monday night.

Sanchez has been Maresca’s No1 since he took charge at Chelsea last summer and the Italian has been strong in his backing of the ’keeper despite a number of high-profile errors throughout the season.

Chelsea’s reserve ’keeper Filip Jorgensen has been primarily used in the cup competitions, with his only league starts so far coming when Maresca has rotated against newly-promoted sides Ipswich and Southampton.

With Chelsea having had a week off in the lead up to the West Ham game and then blessed with a similar gap before the following weekend’s FA Cup tie against Brighton, dropping Sanchez now would be a more significant move.

“Not yet,” Maresca said on Friday, when asked whether he had decided who will start the London derby.

Robert Sanchez is under pressure at Chelsea

AFP via Getty Images

“We have two or three days. The good thing is that any decision I take, I feel good because any time Filip played since we started, he has done well. So, Filip or Robert, we will see. But any decision will be okay.”

Sections of the Chelsea support have lost patience with Sanchez, leading Maresca to urge the Stamford Bridge crowd to get behind whoever he chooses on Monday night.

He did admit, however, that taking a struggling player out of the firing line could prove a wise course of action.

“Yes, sometimes that can happen,” he added. “Not only in Robert’s case. The other day I was reading about [Gianluigi] Donnarumma, this season he was playing always for Paris Saint-Germain but for some games Luis Enrique left him out. Now, he’s playing every game and doing well.

Jorgensen was a £20million signing from Villarreal last summer and has broadly impressed when used this season, though he endured a difficult night in the defeat at Ipswich last month.

Maresca insists, however, that he is not concerned about the 21-year-old becoming unsettled even if Sanchez keeps his place through his poor form.

“The first time I spoke with Filip in June or July, I was clear that the No1 choice was Robert,” Maresca explained. “Then, because we have two good keepers we can make different decisions, for sure.

Asked if Chelsea could consider recalling former No1 Kepa Arrizabalaga from his loan spell at high-flying Bournemouth before the deadline, Maresca said: “No, absolutely not.”