Now that Chelsea are off on their preseason tour, with a game coming up tonight and press conferences underway which will be a regular occurrence until May, the storylines of the season can really develop.
One of the early threads which we’re going to be following is what happens in goal.
There’s already major talk about bids for other goalkeepers, but as it stands, Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic are our first team keepers, and with Petrovic still in the UK recovering from an injury, Sanchez is back in the hot seat.
He spoke to Ben Jacobs for TalkSport on whether he felt like he was the true number one:
“I am training hard to get that position. I’ll get some minutes and we’ll go from there,” he offered.
“I always think playing with my feet is my game. I feel really comfortable with what [Maresca] wants. He has explained what he wants from me and I’ve been doing it in training, and it’s looking really good at the moment.
“I know what I can bring to the team. I am positive. It’s a totally different [style]. The goalkeeper here needs to ‘have a pair’ and show a bit of personality. I think I am the right guy for that. Right now, I’m feeling really confident in training. It’s looking good.
“[It’s about] just being a bit different to what a normal goalkeeper is like, you need to have a bit of arrogance, hold the ball, show a bit, and like I said ‘have a pair’ and show a bit of quality.”
Chelsea’s summer of mystery kicks into gear
It’s going to be a fascinating summer on this front. We can genuinely see a situation where we start the season in a month’s time with Sanchez, or Petrovic, or an as yet unknown mystery signing as our number one. It’s rare (and exciting) to be in that situation.
Of course it’s not a great indicator, but it’s something to watch…
