Enzo Maresca has expressed concern over Chelsea’s goalkeeping situation following Filip Jorgensen’s costly error that allowed Aston Villa to snatch all three points in Saturday’s late match.
The Danish goalkeeper let Marco Asensio’s volley slip under his body in the dying moments of the game, sealing Chelsea’s third defeat in their last four Premier League outings. Although Jorgensen had made key saves earlier, denying Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey, his late mistake has put additional pressure on Chelsea’s goalkeeping options after Maresca opted to drop Robert Sanchez in favor of the 22-year-old.
Speaking after the match, Maresca admitted: “I am always concerned, even when we were winning games, I was concerned. Now, for sure. The problem with goalkeepers is that it’s a delicate position, and when they make a mistake, everyone sees it. Unfortunately, today our goalkeeper [Filip Jorgensen] made a mistake. This is a moment we need to support each other and try to stay strong.”
When asked if Jorgensen would remain in the starting lineup, Maresca remained uncertain: “I don’t know. At this moment, it is not today’s mistake that will change my mind about Filip. We will see.”
Maresca, who received backing from co-owner Jonathan Goldstein earlier in the week amid growing pressure, felt his side created more chances against Villa than in their previous two matches but acknowledged they need to improve over a full 90 minutes.
“It’s a tough one because compared to the game against Brighton, the performance and reaction were good. At the moment, we are in a bad run, but we need to stick together and try to win games. I have a feeling that if we win one game, we’ll go again. Until then, we need to work hard and try to get the win as soon as possible.”
“We created many chances. In the last two games, we struggled with that and lacked a threat. Today, Pedro [Neto] played really well, and we tried with him during the week. It worked well. But we didn’t win, and we have to be upset.”
“Once again, today, we showed we can be good for long parts of the game, but that’s not enough. The performance needs to be complete. We need to score goals when we have the chance and defend well, but I thought we defended well today. It’s a moment where we were also a bit unlucky.”
