Jadon Sancho has scored two goals in two games for Chelsea, and will take on Brentford tomorrow hoping to make it 3 in 3.
The winger has always had tons of talent, but has never been a prolific scorer. It’s one of the things that will need to change if he’s to fulfil his potential. The coaching staff at Cobham are already hard at work on this flaw in his game, according to the man himself.
Speaking in the press conference yesterday, manager Enzo Maresca went into a little more detail on what he’s asked of his left winger:
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Jadon Sancho chatting on Sky Sports.
A generic interior view of Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Jadon Sancho wraps on with his right foot against Spurs. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
“Jadon, since we started, is doing well. He was lacking a finish because we had many different games where he arrived one-v-one and he is always looking for an assist. This is good but sometimes he is in a position where he can take a shot and now he is doing better.”
That desire to look for a pass rather than to take on a shot is often a useful characteristic – but it needs to be balanced out. Sometimes you just need to have a go, and the goal against Tottenham last weekend was a perfect example. His team were 2-0 down and just needed a spark to get back into the game.
His excellent right footed strike hit the net, and from there we had lift off.
Jadon Sancho wraps on with his right foot against Spurs. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
Jadon Sancho wraps on with his right foot against Spurs. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
Maresca warns wingers to keep up their work rate
Sancho has been in and out of the team this season, and in the same press conference Maresca made it very clear that he wants to see full defensive commitment from his wingers too:
“Off the ball, the way we work, Pedro and Noni on one side and Jadon and Misha on the other, they have to run when we don’t have the ball. It’s not more than that. You can’t only play football when we have the ball, you have to play it when we don’t have the ball. We require sacrifice and hard work.”