The Blues welcome Everton to Stamford Bridge in Saturday's early kickoff as they try to strengthen their position in the race for the Premier League's top five and a Champions League spot for next season. Maresca opened up in his latest press conference ahead of the game about expectations and how players such as Neto are not living up to expectations.
“I think Pedro helps us a lot, especially when Nico (Jackson) was injured, when he played as a nine.
“Now I think he’s scored already four goals in the Premier League. Our wingers, for me, they have to score, at the end of the season, around 10 goals. For the amount of chances they have, every game, one-to-one chances.
“So Pedro is doing well, but no doubt he can do better. In terms of numbers, for instance, Noni (Madueke) scored seven goals in the Premier League. That is the number that we require from wingers.’
The Portuguese international has scored just four times in the Premier League this season but the Italian head coach did go on to admit that it is unfair on Neto as he has been playing him in an awkward position for the majoirity of the season.
“We know that he’s much better in our right side than left. Sometimes we use him in the left because we have also known him and we decide to go with both. One of them has to be on the left side,’ the Italian head coach added.
“And because Pedro, in the past, he played games on the left side, so we decided to keep him on the left and not on the right. Knowing that Pedro is better in the right side, I think he’s doing well with us.
“It’s a little bit, game by game, week by week, how they work every day. And Pedro is working well. The good thing is that we have Pedro, Noni in general, also Ty, who can play wide. But we have these three players that it’s easy for me to choose which one, because they are working well.”
Pressure is building on the Chelsea boss and a narrow escape against Fulham last week will not help ease reports that suggest he may be sacked if European football is not acheived for next season. A win against Everton if imperative and after Maresca’s comments Neto may step up and put in a performance to save his job.