Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez has been a big talking point in the team’s season so far, but he enjoyed one of his better days in the weekend’s victory over Brentford.
Chelsea kept up their fantastic form on Sunday by winning 2-1 at home local rivals Brentford in the Premier League.
Marc Cucurella and Nicolas Jackson were on the scoresheet for the Blues to gain three points. If Enzo Maresca’s side win away at Everton on Sunday afternoon, they’ll temporarily leapfrog Liverpool to go top of the league table.
Robert Sanchez, 27, pulled off some outstanding saves to help his side earn a fifth straight league win.
While Sanchez’s performance may have put Chelsea in the title mix, the shot-stopper has had to deal with his fair share of criticism as well this campaign.
Robert Sanchez of Chelsea passes the ball during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Brentford FC at Stamford Bridge on December 15, 20...
Photo by Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Jason Cundy spots change in Robert Sanchez
Jason Cundy noticed a big shift in Chelsea’s Sanchez during the Brentford victory at the weekend.
He insists that the Spanish gloveman has been instructed to kick it longer to avoid so many errors when trying to play out from the back.
When discussing Chelsea keeper Sanchez, Cundy told talkSPORT: “I thought it was his best game for Chelsea (against Brentford). It was really obvious to me doing the commentary that those passes out from the back were less. I think there’s been an instruction only to pass it if it’s 100 per cent on… He went long a lot. Maybe we’ll start to see a little bit more of that.”
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In fairness, the statistics support the claims that Sanchez has started to kick the ball longer in games.
Date Fixture Long balls
15 December Chelsea 2-1 Brentford 20
8 December Tottenham 3-4 Chelsea 21
1 December Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa 13
23 November Leicester City 1-2 Chelsea 13
Robert Sanchez in his last four Chelsea appearances via FOTMOB
The question marks against Robert Sanchez at Chelsea
Whenever the noise around Sanchez’s starting position gets louder, he’s had a knack this season of delivering a big performance to remind everyone of his quality.
Jamie O’Hara said Sanchez isn’t good enough to start for Chelsea. Elsewhere, Mark Schwarezer has told Chelsea to replace Sanchez in-between the sticks.
For now, Maresca is remaining loyal to Sanchez as Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper. It means that Filip Jorgensen is the understudy patiently waiting in the wings.
If Sanchez cuts out the errors leading to goals, which usually comes from passing out from the back, you could argue he warrants his place in the starting XI.
The Spain international needs to show top form over a much more consistent period before he wins over his doubters, though.
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