Robert Sanchez should soon return to full training after joining our long injury list lately.
Sanchez was playing through the pain with injections, but in the end it became too much and he needed to sit it out for a while.
Djordje Petrovic had not played one single minute for Chelsea since arriving from the MLS in the summer, before replacing an injured Sanchez mid-game.
We were all left wondering that perhaps Pochettino didn’t trust the 24-year-old stopper enough to let him have the domestic cup games. Or maybe he was just trying to build up the confidence and trust in Robert Sanchez, who is seen as the club’s number one.
Sanchez was signed on recommendation of Ben Roberts, and there remains a belief that he can be the main number one at the club.
Having said that, the club have always kept the avenues open and have been scouting goalkeepers as a precautionary measure, but this is just normal scouting that they do for all positions.
Petrovic is rated highly at the club and by those who bought him in, and he is only two years younger than Sanchez, which many people forget about – he’s not what I’d call a young player anymore.
He’s come in and done superbly well so far for Chelsea, but it is early doors of course. The pressure, the pace, and the physicality of this league is completely different to anything he has been used to before. I’m not saying he wont continue at the level he has showed, because he looks like a superb all round goalkeeper, but there will be more testing moments to come and just like I will not write a player off after three games, we also must be careful not to hype a player up or expect too much after three games either.
“It’s like a completely different sport [in the Premier League],” Petrovic said this weekend. “It is a lot faster and you don’t have time to think when you have the ball at your feet.”
Consistency is key in this league and is so important for Chelsea, and Petrovic will know that he will need to keep his levels up. There will be mistakes, and I am sure fickle fans will soon turn on him when he makes a couple of them. But from what we have seen so far, he certainly looks like a very good keeper.
His shot stopping is great, he has been convincing on crosses, he has great height and a good reach, and his decision making (when to go long and when to stay short) has also been really clever. He seems good with his feet.
If we are playing players on merit then really, he keeps his place. And if it was me personally, I’d be letting him keep his number one spot.
But as I said, Chelsea need consistency, and Chelsea need comfort and repetitiveness, especially at the back. I don’t agree with the Arsenal (and others) approach of using two keepers and swapping and changing and letting them compete. Competition is good, but I don’t want to it to be a situation where we do not have a number one goalkeeper – a little like the situation with Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy recently. I think that only shatters confidence of not just the keeper, but also those playing ahead of him.
So I’m a bit contrasted with what to do when Sanchez comes back, and it is for that reason that I think Pochettino might put Sanchez back in as his continued number one. Not that I’d necessarily agree with that, but I would understand his reasoning IF he does of course.
“I just look at the next game and I just want to help the team,” Petrovic said when asked about competition with Sanchez.
“The decision is not on me, it is on the coach and that’s it. We push each other and have a good chemistry and that’s all that’s important.”
Sanchez I think has had some good games and has actually made some hugely important saves that have literally won us points this season. But he still doesn’t convince me and fill me with confidence when he has got the ball at his feet.
If you ask me today to pick a starting Chelsea Xl when everyone is fit, I am selecting Petrovic. But there are always underlines to situations like this that we also must consider.