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Can Enzo Maresca bring the best out of Jadon Sancho at Chelsea

Can Enzo Maresca bring the best out of Jadon Sancho at Chelsea

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Jadon Sancho was widely regarded as one of the most exciting youngsters in Europe when he burst onto the scene with Borussia Dortmund, but he’s yet to fulfil his massive potential.

By Matt Smith

Back in 2017, Sancho made the bold move to jet off to Germany to join Borussia Dortmund after coming through the academy at Manchester City. After a few years in the Bundesliga, it looked to be a near-perfect decision. The now-24-year-old flourished abroad, quickly becoming a key player for Dortmund, proving himself domestically and in the Champions League. 

Fast forward to now, and Sancho has joined Chelsea on loan after a failed move to Manchester United as the sometime-England international looks to revive his career. It simply didn’t work out for him at Old Trafford, eventually re-joining Dortmund on loan for the second half of last season where he proved again that he still has something to give at the highest level.

Moving to Stamford Bridge, Sancho joins a host of attacking talent, meaning it’s not going to be easy for him to become a regular starter. A prime, on-his-day Sancho undoubtedly walks into Enzo Maresca‘s side, and it’s up to the Chelsea coaching staff to unlock that once again.

Sancho possession stats per 90, Bundesliga 2023/24

Although the 24-year-old was only on loan for the second half of the 2023/2024 campaign, Sancho’s numbers showed that he can still be a creative and exciting threat on the wing. Completing 3.40 successful dribbles and 0.32 expected assists per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga, Sancho made a real impact for Dortmund, and was perhaps slightly unlucky not to have achieved more in terms of goal contributions. 

Sancho has predominantly played as a left-sided winger during his career, and the former United man will take plenty of confidence in comments made by Maresca in the summer. The Chelsea boss allowed Raheem Sterling to depart due to preferring a different style of winger, with Sancho arriving shortly after.

In the Champions League last season, only four players completed more dribbles per 90 minutes than Sancho. Competing at the highest level, Sancho was a threat in Europe and the Bundesliga, showing that he simply needed the right environment to thrive.

At Chelsea, Sancho will now be competing with the likes of Pedro Neto and João Félix on the left, so it’s certainly not going to be easy to nail down a place in the starting XI. His versatility could favour him, though, as he’s more than capable of playing on the right-hand side. In Maresca’s system, the left-sided defender often tucks inside in an inverted role, regularly leaving the left winger isolated. As a result, Sancho could thrive playing on the right.

Potential Chelsea XI built with the line-up builder at FotMob.com

Malo Gusto and Reece James are attacking full-backs who love to get forward and hold the width for their team. Sancho often uses the runs of teammates to drag players out of position and attack the space vacated, so partnering him up with an attack-minded right-back could help him flourish. 

Although many fans of the game will argue that elite-level players should be able to adapt to any team, league, or system, there’s no doubt some need the right environment to express themselves. The numbers Sancho produced at Dortmund show he has plenty of talent, and he didn’t become a poor player overnight when he moved to Manchester United. 

At Old Trafford, United have often played a counter-attacking style in recent years, with the likes of Marcus Rashford tasked with running in behind. This isn’t Sancho’s game – it’s not Maresca’s either – he’s a player that wants the ball to feet and to make things happen. Sancho averaged 64.25 touches per 90 minutes last season, while Sterling averaged 52.38. They are different profiles, and Sancho is much more suited to Maresca’s style. 

It’s a heavily possession-based style with Maresca looking to pass teams to death, getting the ball into his attacking players, producing patterns of play in the final third with the ball on the floor. Sancho is a highly technical winger who is comfortable playing one and two-touch football, and there’s a good chance he’s going to work well with Cole Palmer drifting into wide areas to create overloads while an attacking full-back overlaps. 

Sancho season summary from the breakout years at Dortmund

The signing of Sancho may be considered a bit of a risk considering, as a whole, he has been labelled as a flop in the Premier League. As previously mentioned, environment is everything, and there is enough evidence to lean towards to prove that Sancho is far from a poor player. If Maresca can help develop Sancho and get him to produce even 70% of what we saw at Dortmund, the Blues are going to have a player who can contribute significantly. With Chelsea competing in Europe and domestically, they will need quality in depth, and Sancho will be chomping at the bit to prove everyone wrong.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League on FotMob – with in-depth stat coverage including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Can Enzo Maresca bring the best out of Jadon Sancho at Chelsea

Jadon Sancho was widely regarded as one of the most exciting youngsters in Europe when he burst onto the scene with Borussia Dortmund, but he’s yet to fulfil his massive potential.

By Matt Smith

Back in 2017, Sancho made the bold move to jet off to Germany to join Borussia Dortmund after coming through the academy at Manchester City. After a few years in the Bundesliga, it looked to be a near-perfect decision. The now-24-year-old flourished abroad, quickly becoming a key player for Dortmund, proving himself domestically and in the Champions League. 

Fast forward to now, and Sancho has joined Chelsea on loan after a failed move to Manchester United as the sometime-England international looks to revive his career. It simply didn’t work out for him at Old Trafford, eventually re-joining Dortmund on loan for the second half of last season where he proved again that he still has something to give at the highest level.

Moving to Stamford Bridge, Sancho joins a host of attacking talent, meaning it’s not going to be easy for him to become a regular starter. A prime, on-his-day Sancho undoubtedly walks into Enzo Maresca‘s side, and it’s up to the Chelsea coaching staff to unlock that once again.

Sancho possession stats per 90, Bundesliga 2023/24

Although the 24-year-old was only on loan for the second half of the 2023/2024 campaign, Sancho’s numbers showed that he can still be a creative and exciting threat on the wing. Completing 3.40 successful dribbles and 0.32 expected assists per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga, Sancho made a real impact for Dortmund, and was perhaps slightly unlucky not to have achieved more in terms of goal contributions. 

Sancho has predominantly played as a left-sided winger during his career, and the former United man will take plenty of confidence in comments made by Maresca in the summer. The Chelsea boss allowed Raheem Sterling to depart due to preferring a different style of winger, with Sancho arriving shortly after.

In the Champions League last season, only four players completed more dribbles per 90 minutes than Sancho. Competing at the highest level, Sancho was a threat in Europe and the Bundesliga, showing that he simply needed the right environment to thrive.

At Chelsea, Sancho will now be competing with the likes of Pedro Neto and João Félix on the left, so it’s certainly not going to be easy to nail down a place in the starting XI. His versatility could favour him, though, as he’s more than capable of playing on the right-hand side. In Maresca’s system, the left-sided defender often tucks inside in an inverted role, regularly leaving the left winger isolated. As a result, Sancho could thrive playing on the right.

Potential Chelsea XI built with the line-up builder at FotMob.com

Malo Gusto and Reece James are attacking full-backs who love to get forward and hold the width for their team. Sancho often uses the runs of teammates to drag players out of position and attack the space vacated, so partnering him up with an attack-minded right-back could help him flourish. 

Although many fans of the game will argue that elite-level players should be able to adapt to any team, league, or system, there’s no doubt some need the right environment to express themselves. The numbers Sancho produced at Dortmund show he has plenty of talent, and he didn’t become a poor player overnight when he moved to Manchester United. 

At Old Trafford, United have often played a counter-attacking style in recent years, with the likes of Marcus Rashford tasked with running in behind. This isn’t Sancho’s game – it’s not Maresca’s either – he’s a player that wants the ball to feet and to make things happen. Sancho averaged 64.25 touches per 90 minutes last season, while Sterling averaged 52.38. They are different profiles, and Sancho is much more suited to Maresca’s style. 

It’s a heavily possession-based style with Maresca looking to pass teams to death, getting the ball into his attacking players, producing patterns of play in the final third with the ball on the floor. Sancho is a highly technical winger who is comfortable playing one and two-touch football, and there’s a good chance he’s going to work well with Cole Palmer drifting into wide areas to create overloads while an attacking full-back overlaps. 

Sancho season summary from the breakout years at Dortmund

The signing of Sancho may be considered a bit of a risk considering, as a whole, he has been labelled as a flop in the Premier League. As previously mentioned, environment is everything, and there is enough evidence to lean towards to prove that Sancho is far from a poor player. If Maresca can help develop Sancho and get him to produce even 70% of what we saw at Dortmund, the Blues are going to have a player who can contribute significantly. With Chelsea competing in Europe and domestically, they will need quality in depth, and Sancho will be chomping at the bit to prove everyone wrong.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League on FotMob – with in-depth stat coverage including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.