According to Metro, John Obi Mikel believes Chelsea must find a replacement for Robert Sanchez and address his mistakes if they aim to be genuine contenders for the Premier League title.
Despite Chelsea's recent success, including a 4-2 home victory against Brighton that marked their third consecutive league win, Sanchez's performance raised concerns.
The Spanish goalkeeper was responsible for both of Brighton's goals, failing to claim a high ball that Georginio Rutter headed into the net and subsequently gifting the ball to Carlos Baleba for the visitors' second goal. While Cole Palmer's impressive four-goal performance helped secure the win, Obi Mikel, a two-time league champion with Chelsea, feels Sanchez is a liability that manager Enzo Maresca cannot afford if they wish to compete for the title this season.
"He had a nightmare in the first half; he was at fault for the first two goals, so for me, that’s a concern," Obi Mikel said on The Obi One Podcast. "But apart from that, we are looking very, very strong. Of course, the two games before that, he performed very, very well, but you want to be a title-winning team; you need a top, top goalkeeper." He added, "Let’s not kid ourselves, we don’t have that. No disrespect to Robert Sanchez; he’s a fantastic goalkeeper, but we need a top, top goalkeeper to compete." Obi Mikel continued, "If he wants to become a top goalkeeper, he needs to start putting in those performances. We know he’s not very good with his feet; that’s not a problem, but we need a goalkeeper that’s assured in the goal, can make saves, but I watched the game on Saturday, and he was at fault for both goals."
Chelsea signed Danish goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen in the summer, and he will have an opportunity to prove himself as the team's first-choice keeper during Thursday’s Conference League match against Gent. Nevertheless, Maresca has expressed his support for Sanchez, emphasizing that the team's possession-heavy approach may lead to some initial challenges.
"Filip has to do well because we need him doing well, not because he has to put pressure on Robert," Maresca stated at a press conference on Wednesday. "I said after the game, usually we like to see the end part of the thing, and that was a Robert mistake, but the mistake started with Malo [Gusto] because we conceded a chance and then we conceded a goal. It is not Robert’s or Malo’s problem. We will make some mistakes. I don’t think Filip needs to put pressure on Robert. We need him to play a good game because the team needs that."
Comments
Post a Comment