- Enzo Maresca Sends Warning to Chelsea Star: When He Will No Longer Be Picked

Enzo Maresca has encouraged Robert Sanchez to keep pushing the boundaries with his distribution and has made it clear to the goalkeeper that he expects him to maintain his bold approach. Maresca has warned Sanchez that if he starts playing it safe, he risks being dropped from the team.

The Blues bounced back from last weekend’s narrow defeat at Anfield with a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge against Newcastle with dynamic duo Jackson Martinez and Cole Palmer to the fore once again.

Chelsea were forced to hang on for all three points and owed much to the the defensive instincts of captain Reece James who made two goalline clearances

The nerves of the homes fans were hardly helped by a jittery display from Sanchez who coughed up possession on several occasions with reckless passes.

Maresca, however, has urged his current No.1 to ignore the groans of his own supporters, or risking losing his place in the starting XI.

‘He also did so many good [things],’ said the Chelsea boss, reflecting on the Spaniard’s display. ‘In the end, that is football.

‘I am the guy who asks Robert to do that. And Robert is going to do that. In the moment he stops to do that, he is not going to play.

‘If Robert makes a mistake, it’s not Robert’s problem, it’s my mistake because I asked that from Robert. I am very happy with Robert and the way he is playing, building from the back.

‘All the goal kicks we have and he passes the ball to Noni, and Pedro, that kind of ball that gives us many times chances to attack. Sometimes you make mistakes but it is not going to change the way we are going to play.’

Maresca was busy on the touchline throughout the second half, barking instructions at his players.

Explaining his conduct on the sidelines, he added: ‘There are games, especially today’s one, that if you do a basketball game, they would destroy us. Newcastle are strong, they are good, they have some good players in transition.

‘The reason I was saying to calm was because this is the kind of game before you attack you need to make 15, 20 or 25 passes.

‘If you want to attack with two passes, you are long distance, they recover the ball and they can cause problems. That is the reason I was shouting all game, ‘calm, calm, calm, make passes’ is because against them if you do up and down game, they destroy us.’