Enzo Maresca has said Chelsea remain “confident” in error-prone goalkeeper Robert Sánchez but warned he wants to see a positive reaction from the 27-year-old after his latest mistake in Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Manchester City.
Josko Gvardiol had canceled out Noni Madueke's opener in the third minute before Sanchez gave Erling Haaland the chance to put City ahead in the 68th minute.
Sanchez ran off his line but didn't come close to catching Haaland as he pulled away from Trevoh Chalobah, allowing City's main goal threat the chance to finish high into an unprotected net.
Phil Foden added a third late on as City overtook Chelsea into fourth place and Maresca was left to defend Sanchez, who he described before the game as “improving but still very, very, very far from where I want him to be.” .
Maresca said after Saturday's game: “We trust Robert, but the first one who is fully aware that he is making mistakes at the moment is Robert.
“Of course, we still trust Robert. We trust Robert, but now we have a whole week [until the next game]”We see the reaction and then we decide the next game.”
Sanchez's error was his second in a week after he failed to catch a cross against Wolves on Monday and allowed the Premier League strugglers to briefly draw level.
The Blues spent £20.7 million ($25.7 million) last July to sign Filip Jørgensen from Villarreal, but he has only made two league appearances to date.
Maresca may feel the need to change things after a run of just one win in seven Premier League games, but insisted his team, now in sixth place, were still making progress.
“In my opinion, we are a better team than a month or two months ago,” he added. “These types of games will surely make us better because we need to live these experiences.”
