Two years ago, Chelsea signed a goalkeeper. Last summer they signed two more. This summer, they’re one down and it seems like there’s potentially another one on the way.
Why all the chaos? Well the Athletic have done one of their typical deep dives into the situation to figure it out.
New arrival Filip Jorgensen went from rumour to debut in the space of about 4 days, playing the second half of last night’s friendly against Club America. So what was the rush to get him in all about? It’s all to do with new manager Enzo Maresca. The Italian wants his goalkeeper to push high up to support his defence, and pass like a midfielder. He said it himself in his press conference after the draw with Wrexham, when the subject of the incoming Jorgensen was brought up:
“For sure, the way we want to play, the goalkeeper is very, very important. It is one of the main positions.”
A new era – fifth time lucky?
The Athletic’s piece claims that last summer’s arrival Robert Sanchez is going to start the season as number one, but even that seems doubtful. Why spend £20.7m on Jorgensen if you’re remotely convinced that Sanchez is up to it? He struggled last season playing out from the back for Mauricio Pochettino, who wasn’t using a system remotely as demanding of the goalkeeper as this one:
“According to FBref, the average distance from goal of [Maresca’s last goalkeeper Mads] Hermansen’s defensive actions is 18.8 yards, slightly beyond the boundary of his own penalty area. Sanchez’s average distance is 15.8 yards, a marginal but important difference in Maresca’s system.”
The reasons for wanting to sell Djordje Petrovic are obvious too – he’s even more defensive and less inclined to play the ball out of his feet than Sanchez.
As they point out, Jorgensen’s stats are closer to Petrovic’s than Sanchez’s, let alone Hermansen’s.
Let’s just hope we don’t find ourselves back in the keeper market again next summer…
