Paul Scholes feels Chelsea have made a good start to life under Enzo Maresca but highlighted two positions that he’s worried about.
After arriving in the summer from Leicester City, Maresca has overseen an impressive start to life in the Stamford Bridge hot seat.
The Blues have ten points from their opening five games and sit fifth in the Premier League, with the 44-year-old becoming the first manager since Pep Guardiola in 2016 to win his first three away games in the league.
Scholes concerned about two positions at Chelsea
Many tipped the Italian to struggle with some even saying he could be the first manager to be sacked, but the good start has certainly silenced the doubters.
You can see a clear identity and a style of play already at this early stage in his tenure, whilst the Blues appear to have a lot more control in games, having had many end to end games under Mauricio Pochettino.
Chelsea have demonstrated their ruthlessness in attack by scoring six against Wolves and putting three past West Ham, whilst they have improved defensively over the last few games and have recorded three clean sheets in a row in all competitions.
However, despite the positive start Scholes admitted he’s still worried about Chelsea in two positions specifically.
“We were saying Maresca is going to be the first one gone,” he said on The Overlap.
“These results have almost calmed things down. You look at the squad there is a lot of talent. I’m a little bit worried about the centre-forward to be honest. I’m worried about the keeper a little bit.”
Sanchez has come under criticism with many fans wanting him replaced but the Spaniard has had a good start to the season, whilst Jackson has impressed with four goals and two assists in five games despite much being made of Chelsea’s failure to bring in a top striker this summer.
The Blues will be hoping the pair continue their good form throughout the season as it could save them a lot of money in the transfer market in the future.
Sanchez has NOT “had a good start to the season,” lol! Have you not looked at the data before making that statement?
We can’t let two clean sheets overshadow the fact that he STILL has allowed in more goals than his xG predicts—meaning he’s not making saves the average Premier League keeper should make (let alone making the spectacular saves you’d expect from a truly world class shot stopper). And on top of this, we’ve all noticed his shaky distribution.
So, it’s got to be said that Scholes is right, at least with regard to Sanchez (though he’s dead wrong about our strike options). The Spaniard is a weak link and an upgrade is essential if we’re really going to compete for hardware.