Chelsea managed to secure yet another superb victory under Enzo Maresca, further securing their second-place spot in the Premier League, now two points ahead of third-place Arsenal.
The Blues came out on top in a 4-3 thriller at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but not without difficulties, as Chelsea went 2-0 down inside 11 minutes, with two huge errors gifting Spurs their lead.
As good as Chelsea have been this campaign, they still have the odd error in them defensively, which has seen them only keep three Premier League clean sheets in 15 games.
Robert Sanchez’s performance against Spurs
One man that always seems to have an error in him is Robert Sanchez, who yet again misplaced multiple passes against Tottenham, leading to extra chances for them to score.
Sanchez made one error leading to a shot against Spurs, only making two saves in the game, conceding three times, and completing just 53% of his passes (21/40).
Ultimately handed a 4/10 by GOAL writer Sean Walsh, the stopper was lamented for his ‘atrocious range of passing’ which is rather apt when you look at the stats above. Jamie Carragher hit the nail on the head too, explaining that he “can’t see someone winning the Premier League with that goalkeeper.”
Maresca continues to publicly back Sanchez as the Chelsea number one, but the Blues have an excellent replacement option who was signed this summer and should be given a fair chance in the Premier League.
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Chelsea’s goalkeeper solution
Filip Jorgensen, who was signed this summer from Villarreal for a fee of around £20.7m, has made nine appearances since joining the club, conceding eight goals, and keeping four clean sheets (one more than Sanchez), totalling 810 minutes played.
The 22-year-old, 6 foot 3 shot-stopper has shown brilliant signs in recent weeks, being calm and comfortable on the ball in short circuit passing around the back, with the ability to play the ball long into the channels.
Along with this, his shot-stopping has been excellent, making an incredible 11 saves against Heidenheim in the UEFA Conference League, with seven saves inside the box.
|
Filip Jorgensen vs Robert Sanchez comparison |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats (per 90 mins) |
Jorgensen |
Sanchez |
|
Goals Against |
0.86 |
1.19 |
|
Shots on Target Against |
4.57 |
4.52 |
|
Saves |
3.71 |
3.33 |
|
Save % |
81.3% |
80.3% |
|
Clean Sheets |
0.43 |
0.22 |
|
Clean Sheet % |
42.9% |
23.1% |
|
Passes Attempted |
39.0 |
40.5 |
|
Pass Completion % |
90.8% |
75.5% |
|
Long Pass Completion % |
43.3% |
37.4% |
|
Stats taken from FBref |
||
Jorgensen has been lauded as “incredible” in recent weeks, with his time surely not far in terms of becoming the Chelsea number one.
When comparing his metrics against those of Sanchez, the 22-year-old comes out on top in almost every statistic, making more saves, having better pass completion at all ranges, and keeping more clean sheets.
The only area Sanchez trumps Jorgensen is more passes attempted, and this is only by 1.5 passes per 90 (40.5 to 39.0). Much of this can also be down to Sanchez playing more games in a settled back line, with their passing circuits being slightly more drilled than the “second team”.
Jorgensen has been waiting in the shadows, going about his work quietly, and showing all he can as the backup, playing in cup competitions, and starting midweek against Southampton in the Premier League. Now, it could be time for Maresca to bite the bullet, and give the youngster a fair shot as the number one, in an attempt to cut out the errors leading to goals among the Chelsea backline.
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