Chelsea must abandon one star in particular if they want to fight for the Premier League title, Jamie Carragher has claimed.
Chelsea were beaten 2-1 by league leaders Liverpool on Sunday and in truth they could have come away with a positive result.
Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, and Renato Veiga all went close to bagging an extra goal at Anfield on a day when Chelsea had more shots and more of the ball.
It has been an encouraging start under Enzo Maresca for the Blues, who sit sixth in the Premier League and had gone unbeaten in seven prior to their Anfield defeat.
While goals have been no problem – only Manchester City and Tottenham have scored more – Carragher is worried about one man at the back: Robert Sanchez.
Chelsea must ditch Robert Sanchez if they are to fight for the Premier League title, Jamie Carragher has claimed
He accused Sanchez of being ‘scared’ to come for the ball for Curtis Jones’ winning goal
‘In terms of control of the game, Chelsea were better, but what let them down was the goalkeeper,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘They need a new goalkeeper if they want to get back to where they want to be.’
It was a torrid day for Sanchez, who looked uncomfortable on the ball, clattered into Curtis Jones to almost give away a penalty and, in Carragher’s view, should have done better for Jones’ winner.
Mohamed Salah had opened the scoring with a penalty he could do little about, but after Jackson had equalised, Chelsea had been in the ascendancy until Jones managed to scramble the ball in.
‘What I don’t like is that when he goes he turns his face. It’s almost like he’s scared of getting hit by the ball,’ Carragher said.
‘You go back to Peter Schmeichel and when he’d come out he would just make himself as big as possible.
‘He [Sanchez] comes out to Curtis Jones and Curtis Jones should be absolutely terrified that a ‘keeper is coming towards him, he’s 6 ft 4, he’s coming on top of him.
‘But he [Sanchez] is scared of the ball and Curtis Jones and he’s turning his head away.
‘You’ve got to get there and hopefully it hits you in the face and keep it out.
‘We talk about Chelsea and the money they’ve spent and where they still need things… they need a new goalkeeper if they’re going to get back to where they want to be.’
Sanchez has made himself Enzo Maresca’s established number one this season and has had some good games – including against Bournemouth, where he saved a penalty – but has never earned comparisons to the likes of Ederson, Alisson, or David Raya after arriving for £25million on a seven-year deal from Brighton in August 2023.
Injuries ruled him out of the second half of last campaign and in his absence some fans felt that his replacement Djordje Petrovic did a better job.
Football is a team game and a side’s defensive record cannot be pinned on one player, but the fact the Blues have conceded 10 goals compared to Liverpool’s three suggests improvements can be made.
There are ample opportunities for Sanchez to win over Carragher even before the end of October with fixtures against Panathinaikos in the Europa League and Newcastle in the Premier league and EFL Cup.