Nem akarom védeni Sanchezt, de azért az ilyen nyilatkozatok meg megállapítások most rohadt könnyűek róla. Az Athletic írt róla egy kegyetlen részletes elemzést az itteni teljesítményéről és hogy a feladata is egyébként rohadt nehéz, amit Poch rászabott.: "
https://theathletic.com/4975306/2023/10 ... ysis-kepa/"
It is a struggle to find Chelsea fans who are fully convinced by Sanchez as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper due to numerous potentially costly lapses. By virtually every metric, however, he has made a very positive start to life as Kepa Arrizabalaga’s replacement — particularly within the context of how new head coach Mauricio Pochettino wants his team to play.
Sanchez’s errant passes have been memorable, but they have also been few and far between. He has completed 77 of his 78 passes travelling between five and 15 yards and 138 of 141 going between 15 and 30 yards in the 2023-24 Premier League, contributing to an 88.4 per cent overall pass completion that is bettered only by his Brighton replacement Jason Steele (91.5).
The most striking thing about his distribution is just how often Sanchez attempts those short passes into the base of Chelsea’s midfield. This reflects a change of emphasis since Pochettino took over in the summer; he wants his two elite ball progressors in midfield — Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez — on the ball as early and as often as possible. Lateral passes to escape pressure have become options of last resort; the priority is to open up avenues for vertical passes, from either Sanchez or the defenders just in front of him, into midfield.
Against the best pressing teams, this approach can be a real tightrope walk that requires the defenders’ spacing, Sanchez’s passing and the midfielders’ ability to create separation from their markers to all be near-perfect. But, so far, Chelsea have executed Pochettino’s build-up strategy very well and their success is reflected in many of the metrics (second in the Premier League this season for average share of possession (63.1 per cent), touches (773), passes attempted (664) and passes completed (574) per 90 minutes, behind only champions Manchester City in all four categories).
Sanchez has given his team-mates confidence by using his 6ft 5in (197cm) frame to command his penalty area in a manner that was simply beyond the much smaller Arrizabalaga (6ft 1in), who successfully intercepted only 15 crosses in the entirety of 2022-23 (in 29 league appearances), punching all of them. Over his first eight league games for Chelsea, Sanchez has already intercepted 11, catching 10 of them. Overall, he has conceded 1.5 goals fewer than expected so far, ranking him eighth among the division’s starting goalkeepers.
If your job demands that you court disaster on a regular basis, disaster will at some point befall you. But by playing in the manner that Pochettino wants with this level of competence, Sanchez is adding more to Chelsea than the occasional loose pass might take away.
