Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Robert Sanchez made his 100th appearance for Chelsea in the Premier League last weekend, while Filip Jorgensen has played 34 times
ByNizaar KinsellaFootball reporter- Published20 minutes ago
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There has been increased scrutiny of Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior, with his decision not to name a first-choice goalkeeper chief among the criticism he now faces.
Before the Englishman's appointment in January, Robert Sanchez had been former boss Enzo Maresca's undisputed first choice for almost his entire 18‑month tenure.
However, Sanchez has been in rotation with understudy Filip Jorgensen since his poor display in a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal.
The promoted Dane, 23, produced a steady performance in a win at Aston Villa, but a sloppy pass in his second outing led to Paris St-Germain's third goal as Chelsea's Champions League hopes collapsed in a 5-2 defeat at Parc des Princes.
Since then, Jorgensen has suffered a groin issue, prompting Sanchez's return and resulting in five goalkeeper changes across six matches.
The situation has repeatedly raised questions over whether rotating goalkeepers is helpful - while a range of other issues have emerged under Rosenior.
These include selecting Mamadou Sarr, whose early error in Wednesday's 3-0 second-leg defeat by PSG proved costly, out of position at right‑back.
Meanwhile, the management of the captain‑led pre‑kick‑off huddle in the 1-0 home loss to Newcastle drew ridicule and frustrated officials, and Rosenior's side have appeared increasingly open defensively during their run of three straight defeats.
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Who should be number one?
Sanchez can argue he was unfortunate to lose his place, having been in strong form at the end of last season - a run that helped Chelsea qualify for the Champions League and win the Club World Cup.
Chelsea were offered AC Milan's Mike Maignan in the summer but felt he was overpriced, with only one year left on his contract, and unlikely to improve the goalkeeping department to a significant degree, particularly given Sanchez's stable form at the time.
That decision looked justified for much of the season as Sanchez continued to perform well under Maresca.
However, Rosenior's arrival coincided with Sanchez's poorest display of the campaign: a 3-2 defeat by Arsenal in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, where he failed to cut out crosses from a corner and open play for the opening two goals.
Questions were raised over whether Rosenior - who positioned Chelsea loanee goalkeeper Mike Penders exceptionally high when building from the back at his former club Strasbourg - was unsettling Sanchez with his new approach. "It's nothing to do with Rob's build, or the way that we played," Rosenior said.
Although he has not yet adopted such an extreme approach at Chelsea, Rosenior has encouraged shorter passing from the back in certain matches - something that suits Jorgensen more than Sanchez.
So far in their Chelsea careers, Jorgensen has a pass accuracy of 85.3%, compared with Sanchez's 70.6% across all competitions.
Sanchez prefers long passes and attempts twice as many per 90 minutes, although Jorgensen has a higher long‑pass accuracy when he opts to play long.
Yet Sanchez is superior at shot-stopping, having prevented 7.5 expected goals compared with Jorgensen's slightly negative balance of -0.4.
Since Rosenior's arrival, Jorgensen's shot-stopping has declined, but he has only played four times, and rotation provides a strong mitigating factor - he may simply lack rhythm.
"It's more about my decision for each game and in which way I go in that position," Rosenior said of his rotations between the posts.
Having used Maresca's tactics in his first month, Rosenior used the two free midweeks in early February to push his own ideas on the group after gaining more consecutive training sessions.
Unfortunately for Chelsea, they then "set fire to points", drawing from winning positions at home to Leeds and Burnley before Sanchez's mistake at Arsenal triggered the renewed goalkeeper rotation.
When asked whether constantly changing goalkeepers is counter-productive, Rosenior said: "Not for me. If you've got two outstanding left-backs like Cucurella or Jorrel Hato, is it uncertainty for them? I want competition in every area of the pitch.
"The only difference with a goalkeeper is you're one mistake away from this situation."
Mistakes, however, have plagued both goalkeepers - particularly Sanchez, who has made 18 errors leading to shots and eight leading to goals in 101 matches - raising the question of whether either is truly good enough for Chelsea.
When is Jorgensen back?
Chelsea goalkeeper Jorgensen is expected to miss Saturday's match at Everton, having had minor groin surgery in Munich following the mistake he made during the defeat by Paris St‑Germain.
The timing is both coincidental and unfortunate but he is due back after the international break.
Jorgensen, who considered a loan move in January to West Ham or Besiktas in search of more regular minutes, was keen to play a part in Denmark's World Cup play-off squad in March.
However, he remains upbeat about his chances under Rosenior at Chelsea.
