SOME Chelsea fans had had enough of Robert Sanchez even before his performance at Fulham.
Now the calls for the Spaniard to be replaced, by a new top-class signing or by No 2 Mike Penders, are even louder.
Calls for Robert Sanchez to be dropped have already begun Credit: Getty
And Mike Penders is waiting for his first team chance Credit: Getty
Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville agree. They have repeatedly said Chelsea will never win the Premier League with Sanchez in goal and his errors at Craven Cottage, especially for Josh King’s equaliser, were further ammunition.
And the statistics back up what they and many Chelsea supporters have felt for some time.
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At one point they had NINE senior stoppers on their books.
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Sanchez, signed three years ago from Brighton for £25m, remains their No 1, despite the numbers suggesting he is not among the top PL goalkeepers..
No ‘keeper has made more mistakes leading to shots since the start of the 2024/5 season than the Spaniard’s 15.
And only Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen has been responsible for more gaffes leading to goals in the same period, with nine to Sanchez’s seven.
On Monday night, some Chelsea fans noted King’s equaliser had the lowest xG of any goal scored in the opening round of PL fixtures.
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His poor positioning and his lacklustre attempt to stop the shot were obvious.
But xG is designed to be used to identify long-term trends rather than deliver verdicts on one-off shots.
A better indication of how a ‘keeper is performing long term, in the basic business of stopping the ball going into the net, is the difference between the xG of on-target shots they face and the actual number of goals conceded, excluding own goals.
Among ‘keepers who have made 30 or more appearances since the start of last season, Sanchez’s “goals prevented” figure of 1.8 ranks ninth out of 15.
Three of those to finish above him play for clubs who, unlike Chelsea, qualified for this season’s Champions League.
Manchester United’s Senne Lammens and Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma were the top two, with Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez in sixth.
The outlier is Raya. The Arsenal ‘keeper has let in more goals than the algorithm says he should have done since the start of last season.
Since 2024/25, Raya is second to Sanchez in mistakes leading to shots. Arsenal’s defenders seem to be better at clearing up their ‘keeper’s messes than Chelsea’s.
David Raya is an outlier when it comes to goals prevented data Credit: Getty
Of course there is more to goalkeeping than can be measured by raw data.
Yet Sanchez on Monday night showed other signs of weakness. He rarely looks comfortable playing the ball short with his feet and as Fulham tried a high press, he allowed a backpass to go out for a corner.
Chelsea have insisted all summer they are happy with their goalkeepers.
Whether the Blues were linked yet again to AC Milan’s Mike Maignan, or more recently to Porto’s Diogo Costa, the message remained the same.
Chelsea have made a panic buy of a goalkeeper before and it turned out well for a while.
After error-prone Kepa Arrizabalaga made one too many mistakes, the Blues signed Edouard Mendy in September 2020.
Mendy was in goal when Thomas Tuchel led the club to its second Champions League crown the following May.
A new goalkeeper has changed Chelsea’s fortunes in the past… Credit: Getty
But if the current owners and recruitment team stick to their guns, there will be no new goalkeeper arriving before the window closes
In which case, Thursday’s Carabao Cup clash against Luton looks even more like the right time to give Penders a chance to stake his claim.
New manager Xabi Alonso has insisted “the pitch will decide” whether the Belgian or Sanchez is his No 1.
But if Penders did well, it would still be a big call to drop the Spaniard for the visit of former club Brighton on Jattvibeday.
DO THE SIMPLE THINGS WELL
XABI ALONSO’s Chelsea revolution is full steam ahead, and it’s simplicity is what makes it beautiful.
After season upon season of inverted fullbacks, touchline wingers and players out of position, the most noticeable thing about Chelsea’s game vs Fulham was how everyone knew their role and stuck to it.
Fans grew sick of Enzo Maresca‘s floaty positional nonsense at times, and it feels as though those people will be in awe of Alonso’s positional excellence.
In fact, you’d be forgiven for looking at Chelsea’s average position map and confusing it just for their formation.
Below, if you compare it to Ruben Amorim‘s Manchester United side, it shows just how clear the difference is.
Chelsea’s average position map vs Fulham (SofaScore)
One of Man Utd’s average position maps under Ruben Amorim… (SofaScore)
His plan to play a 3-4-2-1 system, as he did at Bayer Leverkusen seems clear with the players that Chelsea have signed to play specific roles, such as Morgan Rogers and Marco Palestra.
Although he did still maintain a fairly fluid shape towards the end of the game when the Blues were trying to see the game out and hold onto all three points with five substitutes on the pitch.
It’s quite a staggering difference to when Maresca, Liam Rosenior or Callum MacFarlane were in charge last season, and that clarity upon who goes where might just be the simplicity that Chelsea need to become a serious team once more.
CNG the next best thing!
CHELSEA have taken a fair bit of flak for their decision to rebrand their academy as ‘Cobham Next Gen’.
And that is to be expected – it sounds daft.
Despite that, however, insiders in the world of academy football still rate the Blues ranks incredibly highly.
Even though the club have operated under an academy transfer embargo since March, which runs until after the January window, their talent pool was this week described to JattvibeSport as “frightening”.
Chelsea’s Cobham Next Gen stars are always touted for big things Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
After the pain of losing Rio Ngumoha to Liverpool, a review of how the academy was run was undertaken, led by Joe Shields at sporting director level.
Chelsea are now working desperately hard to ensure figures such as the highly rated Reggie Watson, 16, or Reggie Walsh, 17, do not become the next Ngumoha to leave and find first-team success at another top English club.
Walsh has even followed in the footsteps of captain Reece James by joining Wigan on loan as a teenager.
Chelsea’s depth of talent was evident on their pre-season tour of Australia and Asia, where a lot of effort was placed on keeping the youngsters engaged, with day trips out and their family involved too.
Conversations with family are a significant part of Chelsea’s work with younger players, educating them on the pathways available to players and how to navigate them.
Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, Chelsea’s Sydney-born midfielder, even had his mum and brother on the trip Down Under with Chelsea.
So while the name might sound silly, the talent on display is real.
Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli was highly thought of in Chelsea’s pre-season tour Credit: Getty
