Many Chelsea fans called for Filip Jorgensen to never start another game for the west London side. As understandable as that call is, the Blues No. 12 is not to blame for that loss against Paris Saint-Germain.
Several times we’ve heard Liam Rosenior say that he asked the team to play a certain way. That statement already makes no sense, but it makes even less sense when you throw players under the bus later…for playing that way. This is why the former Strasbourg manager is solely responsible for this loss.
If I, a football writer, am forced to perform a medical surgery on a patient, who is to blame for a very predictable, unsuccessful surgery? Me? Or the person who forced me into it? “You can always say no”, but could Jorgensen say no? The backup keeper hadn’t been getting games, so he wanted to play, but he had no business playing this game, and Rosenior should have known that.
Liam Rosenior gave a nonsense reason for dropping Robert Sanchez
Sanchez has been Chelsea's most consistent player this season, especially in the UEFA Champions League. The rumour is that he was dropped because Jorgensen was deemed “better on the ball”. This makes no sense for several reasons. Sanchez has never been Manuel Neuer or Ederson on the ball. Everyone who has managed him knows that. This means that you either use him for what he’s good for, or take what you get.
Enzo Maresca was the first manager to make this mistake. He insisted that the Blues No. 1 play out from the back. This saw the former Brighton & Hove Albion shotstopper make 10 errors leading to shots or goals last season. In the Club World Cup final against PSG, Maresca ditched that plan, and told Sanchez to go long. The Blues won 3-0.
The solution to this, is to either get a goalkeeper that can play the one you want, or play the keeper you have the way he can. Rosenior seemed to understand this, but one headloss after another defeat to Arsenal made him reshuffle. It’s his call to make, but it is worrying that he cannot see what everyone else can.
The former Strasbourg head coach should know better. Sanchez is the best shotstopper Chelsea has, and when going up against the firepower that PSG has, shotstopping is much more important than passing. Again, the fact that Rosenior doesn’t see it that way is proof of one thing and one thing only: he bought into his own hype.
There was no reason for the away side to lose as badly as they did last night. Zero reason. Rosenior set the team up to fail, and has not really taken accountability for that action. Swapping out Sanchez for Jorgensen is a sackable offense. What thought process even leads you to that? The gap between Sanchez and Jorgensen is so wide it’s essentially a chasm.
Chelsea is now 5-2 down in a Champions League tie against PSG, effectively eliminating the Blues chances of going through. This is particularly frustrating because the game was dead even. Both teams took nine shots, and in fact, Rosenior’s men created the better chances.
The only difference between both teams was the keepers. PSG had their first choice keeper on the pitch, Chelsea didn’t. Whoever made that call shows he’s not ready to manage at this level. I won’t be surprised if Rosenior doesn’t last a year in the Blues dugout. It was a schoolboy error, and the thought process that led to that Sanchez decision was based on nothing concrete. It’s the clearest indication that he doesn’t know how to analyze match results.