Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca offered an honest verdict on a range of his players this weekend, lauding the impact of Romeo Lavia in particular while defending the underwhelming form of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and Cole Palmer.
Maresca was afforded a different view of proceedings on Saturday lunchtime as he watched Chelsea's narrow 1-0 victory over Everton from the Stamford Bridge press box. The Italian boss admitted that it was "a disaster" being forced to look on from afar while he served a one-game touchline ban, although the change of perspective did offer him a unique insight into some of his players.
Lavia made his long-awaited return from injury to line up at the base of midfield, shunting Moises Caicedo into a makeshift right-back role. Maresca had recently hailed the Ecuador international as arguably the "best defensive midfielder in the world", yet it was Lavia's turn for lashings of praise this weekend.
"When he's fit, he's one of the best midfielders because he can defend very well, he can attack, he breaks the line, the pass between the lines, it is unbelievable," Maresca gushed.
"He's very good and hopefully we can have him until the end of the season. I spent one entire season with Romeo when I was under-23 [coach] at [Manchester] City. So I know Romeo very well. For us it's like Reece [James] - they are both top players. The only shame for us is that unfortunately we need to manage them, we need to protect them. But there's no doubt that Chelsea with Reece and Romeo is a better team."
It was not all positive for the Blues this weekend. Nicolas Jackson may have broken his four-month wait for a goal, but another blank for Cole Palmer extended his scoring drought to 17 games. Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez has been widely criticised this season and Maresca conceded that "it hasn't been a good moment" for his number one.
However, the Spanish shot-stopper was needed to keep Everton at bay, which his manager was quick to point out. "Robert has already had many good moments this season," Maresca insisted. "Like against Tottenham at home. It's normal that as a human being you remember the bad things and not the good things. So with Robert we remember just the mistakes, but he has done some very good things. Hopefully he can continue until the end.
"When players struggle a little bit like Nico [Jackson], like Cole, like Robert, that's the moment when you need to support them. It's just a matter of time for all of them."
Chelsea don't have the luxury of time on their side. The Blues travel to Sweden next week for the first leg of their Conference League semi-final against Djurgarden before returning to an increasingly tight battle for Champions League qualification in the Premier League. Maresca's side have a daunting run-in ahead of them, with Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest all to come.
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