Robert Sanchez vs. Filip Jorgensen: Who Should Be Chelsea’s Starting Goalkeeper?

There have been plenty of questions asked about Chelsea in recent years, but one has persisted between ownerships, managers and different versions of the squad: What are the Blues doing in goal?

The current stoppers trying to answer that question are Robert Sánchez and Filip Jörgensen. The former has spent most of the past three seasons as the starter, but new manager Liam Rosenior has taken the risk of switching things up and putting his faith in Jörgensen, much to the delight of Paris Saint-Germain.

Rosenior now seems further away than ever from finding his answer and Chelsea are lacking stability in such an important position at a crucial time of the season. A solution needs to be found—soon.

Robert Sánchez

Chelsea paid around $32 million (£25 million) to sign Sánchez from Brighton & Hove Albion—who else?—in 2023, and there were immediate questions. The fact he had been relegated to third choice by the Seagulls did not sit well among fans asked to accept him as their new starter.

Concerns over Sánchez’s suitability for the role were common during the Mauricio Pochettino era and extended into Enzo Maresca’s tenure, with both managers struggling to depend on the Spaniard when it came to risk-taking and playing out from the back.

Crucially, however, Maresca clocked this eventually and adjusted his setup to ease the pressure on Sánchez. Long balls, a cardinal sin for most managers, became acceptable again as Sánchez was clearly told to play safer, and this brought a major upturn in the goalkeeper’s fortunes.

Indeed, Sánchez has been among Chelsea’s top performers this season, brushing off the pressure on his shoulders which was exacerbated by a summer pursuit of AC Milan’s Mike Maignan to become an incredibly steady presence between the posts.

Maresca’s departure in January and the arrival of Rosenior brought a change in tactics which clearly did not benefit Sánchez. Risks became a requirement and high-profile errors against Arsenal were all it took for Rosenior to decide it was time to try something new.

Filip Jörgensen

Twelve months after signing Sánchez, Chelsea appeared to acknowledge the ball-playing weakness in his game with a move for Jörgensen, who had just enjoyed a truly impressive season with Villarreal. There was confidence that the Dane was as good with his hands as he is with his feet.

With that reputation, it came as no surprise to see Rosenior put his faith in Jörgensen. The boss wants a goalkeeper capable of playing high and involving himself in play, and Blues scouts will tell you Jörgensen is the stronger candidate.

Unfortunately, that opinion is yet to be adopted by fans who have been underwhelmed by Jörgensen’s sporadic appearances in goal.

While it is important to highlight that a lack of regular minutes will undoubtedly impact his fluidity, his clean sheet return leaves a little to be desired. Most of Jörgensen’s success came in the run to Conference League glory last season, overseeing five shutouts against what cannot be viewed as anything other than inferior opposition.

Rosenior, embodying his own demands of a goalkeeper, chose to take a risk with Jörgensen who, out of the two senior stoppers at Stamford Bridge, would appear to have more of the tools needed to work in his system. It is not hard to see why Rosenior made the change but, equally, Chelsea fans were not particularly surprised to see the gamble fall flat.

Jörgensen’s confidence is now in tatters after a disappointing performance against PSG which even appeared to draw frustration from his own teammate, Enzo Fernández, while Sánchez’s ego has taken a blow after being dropped just a few weeks after showing some of the best form of his life.

Who Should Be Chelsea’s Starting Goalkeeper?

Liam Rosenior — Rosenior has a big decision to make. | Federico Pestellini/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

Defenses want a settled goalkeeper behind them, so choosing his preferred stopper needs to be Rosenior’s priority over the coming days.

The answer may well be defined by Rosenior’s stance on changing his system. Like Maresca before him, the Englishman has brought a complex style of play which may not necessarily be the right fit for his current group of players.

New recruits can always be found in the transfer market but, for now, Rosenior has to stick with what he has, and he would be wise to take a page out of Maresca’s playbook and find a happy medium that satisfies everyone in the short-term.

Your basic requirement as a goalkeeper is the ability to save shots. Modern soccer has almost put ball-playing skills on the same pedestal but, without a safe pair of hands, you won’t win anything. Chelsea know this as well as anybody, having floundered since Thibaut Courtois’s exit in 2018.

For now, Chelsea need to take it easy, and that should involve the return of Sánchez to the starting lineup. He might not be the strongest in possession—to say he is anything less than adequate would be extremely harsh—but he was among the Premier League’s best shot stoppers before Maresca’s sudden departure changed the direction of the season.

The challenge now, for Rosenior, is to get Sánchez back to that level following the hit to his confidence from a trip to the bench that many fans would argue was unfair anyway.

Chelsea’s Long-Term Plan

Plenty of faith has been put in Mike Penders. | Sathire Kelpa/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

You can’t help but wonder whether Rosenior’s approach to the goalkeeper position is simply one of damage limitation until the end of the season, when a full-scale change can be made.

We’ve already seen Chelsea’s willingness to explore the market, but this summer will also bring Rosenior the chance to reunite with 20-year-old Mike Penders, the impressive young Belgian who dazzled under the manager at Strasbourg.

To put that level of faith in Penders, who has just two seasons of senior soccer under his belt, would be an enormous risk ... but that is the whole point of this version of Chelsea. Players are expected to take risks for an ownership group gambling on their development to satisfy their investment. Whether that strategy is the right one is a debate for another day.

What is clear is that the club’s faith in both Sánchez and Jörgensen is limited. Chelsea gleefully tried to upgrade on the former last summer and are already braced to take a loss on the latter after his failure to catch the eye. Something will have to change soon.

Is Penders that answer? The question will certainly be asked in the summer, if not already on the lips of those behind the scenes. Unfortunately, fans may not get a definitive answer until preseason.

Robert Sánchez

Filip Jörgensen

Who Should Be Chelsea’s Starting Goalkeeper?

Chelsea’s Long-Term Plan

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