At this moment, it is hard to judge how far Chelsea are from challenging for the Premier League title. They have looked nowhere near good enough so far in this campaign. That being said, they have a ton of injury problems with key players like Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile and plenty of others out injured. On top of that, one could argue that they might be near the top at the moment if not for those red cards against Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion.
If Chelsea are to win the Premier League at some point in the future, a number of their players will need to step up. One of them might be already starting to do that and is exceeded most expectations this season.
That is none other than Robert Sanchez. Yes, the Spaniard has been heavily criticised over his time at Chelsea and a lot of the time, for good reason. That being said, he must be given credit when it is due. The Spaniard has been superb so far in this campaign, minus that red card against Manchester United.
Even David James seems to be convinced that Sanchez can be instrumental to Chelsea's title challenge. As reported by Metro, he said:
"I know there are a lot of people who look at Sanchez and question his capabilities but I think he is outstanding.
‘I think the one thing that he’s done this season, more so than last season, is contribute with his distribution. His long balls, similar to David Raya, have been exceptional, not only getting the team out of trouble, but actually starting attack moves.
‘And if you look at that Club World Cup, his distribution against PSG was ridiculous and caused all sorts of problems.
‘So I just think that we’ve got a goalkeeper there who I think will be the foundation for Chelsea’s challenge for the title.
‘I think Chelsea will be up there because, first of all, the outfield players. But as I say, with Robert Sanchez they’ve got a goalkeeper who I think could deliver for them this season."
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That is a bold statement from James, that is for sure. Rarely has Sanchez gotten this kind of backing from someone in the media, especially a legendary goalkeeper like the Englishman was.
One cannot deny the improvement that we have seen from Sanchez in recent times. To be very honest, he has been impressive.
Now, that does not mean that he has completely cut out all the errors from his game. That is not the case. The red card against Manchester United is a prime example of that. It cost Chelsea the game.
That being said, the errors certainly seem a lot less frequent than last season, he seems more comfortable with the ball at his feet and his distribution has been pretty good. When it comes to his shot-stopping abilities, there has never been a question about that. Even at his worst, Sanchez was capable of pulling out world-class saves. And he is also a commanding presence in the box, capable of getting on the end of crosses.
Now, we are not saying that Sanchez is suddenly a world-class goalkeeper. But it certainly feels like he is a lot more reliable right now than he was in the past. If he can keep performing like this, there might be no need to chase the signing of someone like Mike Maignan.