Enzo Maresca told Filip Jorgensen he would be benched if he did not pass out from the back (Image: Getty)
has been slammed for delivering ‘ridiculous’ and ‘ludicrous’ instructions to goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen.
Jorgensen has been under significant pressure to perform since replacing Robert Sanchez in the starting line-up, having waited patiently for his chance since signing from Villarreal last summer. But the Dane has been far from perfect since coming into the side.
And there were collective groans around Stamford Bridge during ‘s 4-0 win over on Tuesday, when Jorgensen persisted with passing the ball out from the back, even when pressed by the visitors. Maresca insists that Jorgensen was just following orders, and the Italian revealed he had threatened the stopper with a seat on the bench if he did not obey.
“My message to Filip was, ‘If you play long balls, I will change you’,” explained Maresca. “He was just doing what I said to him. It’s difficult for Filip, and it’s difficult for Robert too. All the keepers, they are just following the plan.”
Former , Fulham and England midfielder Danny Murphy believes that Maresca may have been covering Jorgensen’s back with a threat which, if it was real, would be ‘ludicrous’.
“He’s trying to take pressure off him,” Murphy told . “It’s a ridiculous notion, really. They’re a young side so they need guidance. You can’t tell the keeper he can’t go long. That would be ludicrous. But I don’t think he means it.”
Filip Jorgensen kept his first Premier League clean sheet against Southampton (Image: Getty)
Regardless of the crowd’s feelings towards his relentless passing out from the back, Jorgensen will have been pleased with his night’s work against the Saints, which brought him a first Premier League clean sheet at the sixth attempt.
The 22-year-old had conceded in the reverse fixture against Southampton, as well as in meetings with Ipswich Town, West Ham, Brighton and Aston Villa. His howler at Villa Park last weekend, when he allowed Marco Asensio’s tame shot to squirm under him in the 89th minute, was particularly painful as it led to a 2-1 defeat.
But Maresca is intent on giving him a fair crack, as he did with the much-criticised Sanchez earlier in the campaign. “If we need to change players every time there is a mistake, we need to change players game by game, many players,” said the manager after Jorgensen’s Villa slip-up. “But no, nothing’s changed.
“He is okay. He feels a little bit sad, or upset, because he recognises there has been a mistake but overall, he is okay.”
Danny Murphy believes it is ‘ludicrous’ to tell a goalkeeper they cannot go long (Image: Getty)