Enzo Maresca’s irritated response to question about under-pressure player speaks volumes | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca should have been happy in his press duties today. At the 6th attempt, his team managed a league win.

It was an easy victory over Wolves in the end. They were so defensively weak and let Chelsea score 3 without much difficulty. But the Blues keep giving other teams a chance to get back into games, and they did that again today.

A set piece placed right under the bar caused Robert Sanchez to come for the ball, try and catch it, panic and drop it, then freeze as Matt Doherty poked it in.

It was just the latest in a series of errors – he has 4 leading to goals this season in the Premier League alone.

So many of these errors have gone unpunished too – how many times have we seen him hit a panicked pass into midfield and set up a clear chance for the opposition? Too many. That fact was put to Maresca in his chat with Sky after the game, and he came out strongly to defend his keeper.

“You said fourth mistake? And how many times has he saved us? More than four. No problems [with Sanchez], everyone makes mistakes.” Maresca replied spikily.

You can see Maresca’s testy response in the clip embedded here:

Defending your keeper is understandable – but the truth is clear

Robert Sanchez fumbles a ball from a corner which Wolves put into the net. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

We can understand Maresca’s response. Naturally he wants to defend his goalkeeper. He’s also probably right in that the spotlight is so much on Sanchez that his mistakes are getting far more reaction than his saves.

But let’s be honest, saying your goalkeeper has made more saves than he has crucial mistakes doesn’t really excuse those crucial mistakes, unless he’s doing handstands in every other minute he’s between the sticks.