Why Robert Sanchez was dropped vs Aston Villa as Rosenior makes Jorgensen admission
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Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has explained his decision to start Filip Jorgensen in goal in Wednesday's Premier League clash against Aston Villa.
Rosenior raised some eyebrows with his decision to bench Sanchez in favour of Jorgensen against Villa.
Sanchez recently faced some criticism for his poor performance during Chelsea's defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
Aside from Sanchez's risky passes that caused a few problems, the Spaniard struggled to prevent Arsenal from scoring two relatively easy goals from corner kicks.
That said, Sanchez still made a few important saves in the game, so his omission from the starting line-up came as a surprise, especially given that Jorgensen recently nursed some injury and had not played in over a month.
However, Rosenior argued that the Denmark international has been very patient and is rewarded for it.
"He's played very good in training," Rosenior told TNT Sports in his pre-match interview when speaking about his decision to start Jorgensen.
"The way I work with goalkeepers, I don't have an outright number one. I want competition in every area.
"He's been waiting very patiently for his chance. Now I've given it to him this evening."
Jorgensen has only featured for Chelsea eight times this season across all competitions, during which he has conceded eight goals and kept just one clean sheet.
While it is far from a convincing record, Rosenior must have seen something in training in the 23-year-old that led to the decision in such an important game.
Chelsea currently sit sixth in the Premier League table, six points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa.
So, obviously, a loss would really hurt Chelsea's hopes of finishing in the Champions League spots this season.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.