Robert Sánchez, Filip Jörgensen ‘fighting it out’ for Chelsea starting goalkeeper spot
· Yahoo Sports
Filip Jörgensen made a surprise start for Chelsea in last night’s 4-1 win over Aston Villa, with Liam Rosenior calling it a “technical decision” to give the start to the backup goalkeeper over the incumbent, Robert Sánchez, in what was a massive game for our top-five aims and Champions League ambitions for next year.
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Sánchez had a bit of a rough time of it against Arsenal — again — in the previous match, and though Rosenior had defended BlueCo’s first-choice just as he had after the previous howlers against the league-leaders, the Blues head coach was playing a different tune with his actions.
In fact, after the Villa match, Rosenior himself seemed to suggest that this was not a one-off and that Sánchez’s position as the starter was far from nailed on at the moment.
“Rob is an outstanding goalkeeper and I just saw Filip in training and sometimes as a manager you have to go with your gut. Filip gave us something different and they will both be fighting it out for the rest of the season.”
-Liam Rosenior; source: BBC MotD
If Rosenior wanted to give Jörgensen a token game, he could’ve easily done it this weekend in the FA Cup — so this move feels a bit more significant, akin to Mauricio Pochettino going with Đorđe Petrović for the run-in a couple years ago. Incidentally, Petrović was with Rosenior, on loan at RC Strasbourg last season, and ended up earning a nomination for Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year. (Petrović had enough of this silliness last summer and transferred to AFC Bournemouth to be their starter.)
Of course, we’ve been here with Sánchez before. Enzo Maresca dropped him briefly last season as a “mental break” and that seemed to do Bob a world of good … though asking him to do less with his feet was also helpful. That doesn’t seem to be on the cards with Rosenior, so perhaps Bob’s truly got his work cut out for him now.
Mind you, big Mike Penders is potentially waiting in the wings (well, at RCSA) to claim the Chelsea job as well … perhaps as soon as next season? Maybe the competition for the position is well and truly on after all!