The reason Maresca has undone his huge team selection decision | OneFootball

It took weeks and weeks – a few weeks too many for most people’s tastes – for Enzo Maresca to finally bite the bullet and drop Robert Sanchez, Chelsea’s goalkeeper.

The Spaniard was left out on Monday night, with summer signing Filip Jorgensen brought in to the starting lineup. But after all that waiting, it’s taken just one game for Sanchez to return. He lines up tonight for the game against his old team Brighton in the FA Cup.

Now this should mean simply that Sanchez has switched places with Jorgensen – he’s the cup keeper now, so it follows that he plays in the cup.

But frankly we had suspected that maybe Jorgensen would start tonight even if the intention is to continue playing him in the league. Keepers hardly need to worry about match fitness or fatigue, what is much more important for them is getting into the rhythm of playing. So we would have kept him in to help him get more first team minutes under his belt so he’s as sharp as possible for our next league game. But Maresca does what Maresca does.

Sanchez can only lose out from second string matches

Enzo Maresca and Robert Sanchez celebrate at full time. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

Even if Sanchez has a stormer tonight, the decision is made, and he’s not going to be put back in for our next game. But if he makes another clanger, it will just reinforce Maresca’s decision to drop him from the team.

They’re not the only question marks in this team, but it’s certainly going to be the focus of a lot of attention tonight. If Sanchez makes a mistake, he won’t hear the end of it. If he does well – the debate will only continue through the week until we see our next team sheet.