We can blame the GK as much as we want, and sure he's part of the problem, but he isn't the sole issue. Even when Jorgensen played we had issues. The thing is, Sanchez wasn't even first choice for Brighton, so why in the hell did we think he should be first choice for us? Liverpool bought Alison, City bought Ederson, meanwhile we buy a second rate keeper. You are what you buy, so buy mediocrity you become mediocrity. Lets hope the higher ups wake up and realise this. The best teams in Europe would not do something so nonsensical as buying a second rate player to be a first teamer, but this is where we are. 

Edited January 26, 20251 yr by Sunspear_88

Robert Sanchez was finished at Brighton – a transfer to Chelsea suits all parties

By Andy Naylor

Aug 1, 2023

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This is an updated version of an article first published on Aug 1. 

Robert Sanchez jumped from League One to become Brighton & Hove Albion’s No 1 in the Premier League.

Three years on from that big leap forward, Sanchez fell so out of favour that he did not have a future at the club and has now joined Chelsea on a seven-year contract.

His fall was as swift and as unexpected as the rise, so what went wrong for the goalkeeper who had just turned 23 years of age when he celebrated his top-flight debut with a clean sheet?

That baptism, in a 0-0 draw at Fulham in December 2020, heralded a new era and a new style between the posts for the club. Sanchez seemed to have the world at his feet as he established himself under then-head coach Graham Potter at the expense of Maty Ryan.

But changing circumstances and an element of self-destruction led to a situation where Sanchez fell out of favour with Potter’s successor, Roberto De Zerbi, to the extent that he was excluded from the recent pre-season tour of the U.S..

The Italian took four goalkeepers on the trip: Jason Steele, new signing Bart Verbruggen, Tom McGill and Carl Rushworth, who is joining Swansea City on loan for the season after signing a new contract until 2027.

Steele and Dutch under-21 international Verbruggen will compete for the No 1 spot this season, backed up by Canada international McGill.

England Under-21 international Rushworth is being loaned out for a third time after similar spells in League Two with Walsall and in League One at Lincoln City.

Sanchez, developed via loans in the lower leagues, has been training with others omitted from the U.S. tour and the juniors — a dire situation for his aspirations to become Spain’s No 1.

Everything fell into place for Sanchez at Brighton with the appointment of Potter in May 2019 in place of Chris Hughton, before a season-long spell at Rochdale in League One built on a similar stint with Forest Green Rovers in League Two a year earlier.

Sanchez was a good fit for Potter’s way of building from the back. Within 18 months he was catapulted into the first team, ousting Ryan who had dominated the gloves for Brighton’s first three seasons in the top-flight.

Although the Australia international — now with AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands — had agility on his side, he was short by Premier League standards. Sanchez at 6ft 5ins (195cm) is five inches taller than Ryan and more commanding in the air.

Significantly for Potter, Sanchez was regarded as a better distributor with his feet.

The performances of Sanchez justified Potter’s faith. He kept 14 clean sheets in his first 37 league appearances, conceded on average one goal per game and made only one mistake that lead to a goal over that period.

Potter, describing Sanchez as “amazing since he came in”, added: “He helps the team, comes for crosses that are just incredible, relieves the pressure, (has) calmness with the ball.”

The form of Sanchez earned him a call-up to the Spain squad for the first time by then-manager Luis Enrique in March 2021.

He had come a long way from the 15-year-old who left the family home in Cartagena, south-east Spain, to join Brighton from Valencia-based Levante’s third team after a month’s trial.

Sanchez’s range of skills has never been in doubt. The lingering concern has always been more about his temperament.

His downturn in fortunes at Brighton began last September with the double blow of Potter leaving for Chelsea and taking goalkeeper coach Ben Roberts with him.

Roberts had been instrumental in the rise of Sanchez. He was like a father figure and has stayed at Chelsea despite Potter’s exit and is now across goalkeeper coaching, scouting and recruitment in all age groups.

The turn of events was uncontrollable for Sanchez, but he has contributed to his own problems since then.

The demotion of Sanchez under De Zerbi was by no means instantaneous. Between October and February last season, he started the Italian’s first 16 league games in charge.

In November, he made his first start for Spain in a 3-1 friendly victory against Jordan in the run-up to the World Cup.

Sanchez went to the tournament in Qatar alongside Brentford’s David Raya without making an appearance. Luis Enrique stuck with Unai Simon as his No 1 as Spain made a surprise exit at the last 16 stage.

Back at Brighton, Sanchez’s position still looked secure, but cracks were gradually appearing. He was making more errors with his feet and hands. They were more minor than major until he dropped a harmless cross under no pressure to gift James Tomkins an equaliser for arch-rivals Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in mid-February.

De Zerbi still stood by him initially, Sanchez retaining his spot for the 1-0 home defeat by Fulham a week later.

The turning point came 10 days later when Steele, continuing his accomplished form in the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, highlighted his saving and distribution attributes in a 1-0 win away to Championship side Stoke City in the fifth round of the latter competition.

Steele, retained for West Ham’s visit to the Amex Stadium, kept a second successive clean sheet in a 4-0 victory that ended a run for Sanchez of 48 league appearances in a row over 15 months.

De Zerbi said: “At this moment, he (Steele) is closer to my idea, my style. Robert is improving, but Jason deserves to play. When I speak of my style, I’m speaking about the foot.”

Sanchez shot himself in the foot with a fatal error of judgment following a shock 5-1 home defeat by struggling Everton at the beginning of May.

He asked not to be on the bench as cover for Steele for what proved to be a restorative 3-0 win away Arsenal, followed by a 4-1 defeat against Newcastle United.

De Zerbi said: “He (Sanchez) decided everything. He wanted it this way. Not me, not the club.”

It stayed that way for the rest of the campaign, with McGill stepping up to No 2.

The attitude of Sanchez contrasted with the selflessness of Steele. The 32-year-old has always been a positive influence in the dressing room when he was not playing, including when he was leapfrogged by Sanchez under Potter.

The inactivity of Sanchez at the end of last season cost him his place in the Spain squad under Luis Enrique’s successor, Luis de la Fuente, as they won the Nations League in June.

Now Sanchez, still young in goalkeeping terms at the age of 25, must rebuild his career with club and country. A reunion with Roberts at Chelsea is a logical starting point for all parties.

12 hours ago, axman2526 said:

If they hound anyone it should be the owners and directors.

If they want to go after anyone else because of Sanchez, go after Maresca. We can all see Sanchez is a bozo, but Maresca keeps picking him. What should Sanchez do, refuse to play?

He is a average goalkeeper with no football brain, yet Maresca picks him. So who is really at fault there?

You’ve really hit the nail on the head. I’m not a Maresca out (or any manager) but this is totally on him. There is no confidence in him on the pitch and it’s been evident for months.

He must really have no belief in any of the other keepers, but it’s going to have an impact on him (Maresca) if he doesn’t react somehow.

The crowd will turn on them both, and tbh you couldn’t blame them.

Maybe he's down the bookies ... like that Liverpool goalie was - just a thought.

1 hour ago, Sunspear_88 said:

1. We can blame the GK as much as we want, and sure he's part of the problem, but he isn't the sole issue. 2. Even when Jorgensen played we had issues. The thing is, Sanchez wasn't even first choice for Brighton, so why in the hell did we think he should be first choice for us? Liverpool bought Alison, City bought Ederson, meanwhile we buy a second rate keeper. You are what you buy, so buy mediocrity you become mediocrity. Lets hope the higher ups wake up and realise this. The best teams in Europe would not do something so nonsensical as buying a second rate player to be a first teamer, but this is where we are. 

1. AND WE SHOULD, HES sh*t

2.Never given a fair chance, the yes man is too stubborn as we were told by Leicester fans, refuses to accept Sanchez is not good enough and is prepared to sacrifice a CL place, just as he continues to play a false striker

In what other career can you continue to make such high profile mistakes and people just look the other way.  This needs to be addressed - he is costing us points, simple as.  Should be dropped. It was mentioned above, and no coincidence that once dropped by Poch things settled. 

29 minutes ago, PhilH930 said:

In what other career can you continue to make such high profile mistakes and people just look the other way.  . 

Autocracies?

Edited January 26, 20251 yr by Valerie

Maybe, just maybe Jorgensen in training looks even worse than Sanchez? That's the only explanation I can think of when I see this persistence with starting Sanchez. I have to say, those few occasions I saw Jorgensen in goal, he wasn't terrible but wasn't great either. Granted, those were mostly Conference League fixtures and he barely had anything to do in most of them, but that lack of composure and confidence I constantly sense in Sanchez, he displayed them on occasion, too. Top keepers always have that coolness and assuredness, nothing seemingly fazes them, at least that's the vibe they're projecting outwards and the teammates respond to that, too.

Edited January 26, 20251 yr by abramovich

23 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Maybe, just maybe Jorgensen in training looks even worse than Sanchez? That's the only explanation I can think of when I see this persistence with starting Sanchez. I have to say, those few occasions I saw Jorgensen in goal, he wasn't terrible but wasn't great either. Granted, those were mostly Conference League fixtures and he barely had anything to do in most of them, but that lack of composure and confidence I constantly sense in Sanchez, he displayed them on occasion, too. Top keepers always have that coolness and assuredness, nothing seemingly fazes them, at least that's the vibe they're projecting outwards and the teammates respond to that, too.

Then what exactly was the point of spending £20 million on him?

2 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

Then what exactly was the point of spending £20 million on him?

I think that is the frustration for most of us on here with the goalkeeper situation. We've bought at least 5 goalkeepers the last couple of years and yet none of them are an improvement on Kepa, who we decided was surplus to requirements and sent on loan. We have signed most of these players with no intention of ever playing them. Rather, loaning them out and trying to flip a profit. The same policy seems to be applied in other positions too. Meanwhile the first team doesn't see substantial improvements and this is ultimately going to be reflected in progress made on the pitch too.

Poch effectively parted ways with the club because of his frustations over this recruitment policy. So, they found somebody in Maresca who is willing to accept the decisions made from above.

 

@Valerie - most likely!!

 It is hard to find any positives for Sanchez yesterday.  Examples that come to mind:

• Kicking - numerous times he either kicked it out of the pitch or straight to opposition
• Throwing - although I only recall one time, after claiming a corner he looked to set us free and threw it straight to a City player.  On a throw!!!  A Chelsea player wasn't even within 10 yards of where the ball went
• Offside goal - spilled his dinner there and got lucky
• Equalizer - a little unfortunate, but caught nowhere and ball ricochets for open goal
• Haaland goal - we all know the story there, but a picture paints a thousand words.  Why would he even attempt to go for this (see below)...

What are we doing.  I simply can't get my head around the ineptitude 

 

1 hour ago, abramovich said:

Maybe, just maybe Jorgensen in training looks even worse than Sanchez? That's the only explanation I can think of when I see this persistence with starting Sanchez. I have to say, those few occasions I saw Jorgensen in goal, he wasn't terrible but wasn't great either. Granted, those were mostly Conference League fixtures and he barely had anything to do in most of them, but that lack of composure and confidence I constantly sense in Sanchez, he displayed them on occasion, too. Top keepers always have that coolness and assuredness, nothing seemingly fazes them, at least that's the vibe they're projecting outwards and the teammates respond to that, too.

Maresca is really stubborn though, too stubborn, and it's why we have slipped down to 6th.

The only reason this dude starts for us is because of Ben Roberts and that’s it.

Close friends for years and they were brought together from Brighton.

And he was hired as a “head of global goalkeeping” whatever the f**k that means.

So unless he leaves, this bozo will be number one for the foreseeable future.

I dont think anyone has absolved Sanchez of blame here.

I would say most agree that he is not good enough, can make world class saves but also too often  makes Sunday league level errors and has no football brain at all.

Should never have been signed.

However Sanchez does not pick the team, so it is either on Maresca ignoring his other options and insist on picking him, Ben Robert's and co forcing the manager to pick him, and/or our owners and directors spending so much where a keeper blatantly not good enough like Sanchez is our best option.

Is he better than Jorgensen? If no then why is Maresca not selecting Jorgensen as first choice? If yes why did we sign Jorgensen in the first place?

Is he better than Petrovic and Kepa? No he is not so why are they on loan and he is still here? That was not Sanchez choice.

 

We can all see Sanchez is a poor keeper and should not be selected, but yet he keeps getting picked. Disasi had some chances this season, showed he is not good enough and so we recalled Trev and have everyone else ahead of him.

If we can do that with Disasi why can we not with Sanchez? Is Sanchez pulling the strings? No, of course he is not.

So of course we blame Sanchez for not being good enough. But who is more at fault, hik for being what he is, a poor keeper, or the manager who keeps picking him and the board who keep buying keepers not meant to replace him?

2 hours ago, abramovich said:

Maybe, just maybe Jorgensen in training looks even worse than Sanchez? That's the only explanation I can think of when I see this persistence with starting Sanchez. I have to say, those few occasions I saw Jorgensen in goal, he wasn't terrible but wasn't great either. Granted, those were mostly Conference League fixtures and he barely had anything to do in most of them, but that lack of composure and confidence I constantly sense in Sanchez, he displayed them on occasion, too. Top keepers always have that coolness and assuredness, nothing seemingly fazes them, at least that's the vibe they're projecting outwards and the teammates respond to that, too.

I don;t care if he sleeps through the entire training session, he's never as bad as Sanchez on a matchday so he should be starting.

Holy sh*t, didn't even realise he was on a 7 year contract ha ha ha hilarious 

We do have Willy Caballero on staff btw.

23 hours ago, Brigadeiro Mk II said:

If Sanchez starts next game I won't even bother turning it on. 

He will which is why I will now stop going out of my way to watch the matches.

I've just found out some funny information, September 2019 I went to watch Peterborough vs Rochdale in a game where Peterborough won 6-0. I've only just realised that Robert Sanchez was the Rochdale goalie that day.

 

Edited January 26, 20251 yr by timetowaste

4 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

I've just found out some funny information, September 2019 I went to watch Peterborough vs Rochdale in a game where Peterborough won 6-0. I've only just realised that Robert Sanchez was the Rochdale goalie that day.

 

Shesh that is where he came from before Brighton...lmao

If we are looking at the lower leagues we should buy Sheff United keeper, formerly of Plymouth.

43 minutes ago, Scott said:

We do have Willy Caballero on staff btw.

Not a bad shout. 

More games Sanchez plays the more Marcus Bettinelli looks less of a joke option and more of a "how could he be any worse" shout.

Seriously though start Jorgensen.

Or sign a top keeper in the next few days, maybe Portos.

26 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

I've just found out some funny information, September 2019 I went to watch Peterborough vs Rochdale in a game where Peterborough won 6-0. I've only just realised that Robert Sanchez was the Rochdale goalie that day.

 

"We should sign that kid for Chelsea ... might have conceded six but he made some excellent saves !"

And I bet you didn't realise that a certain "Ivan Toney" got a hat trick for Peterborough as well LOL

Match Report :  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49617798 

I quote : 

It was a day to forget for Dale goalkeeper Robert Sanchez from the moment Toney tackled him from two yards out, which saw the ball trickle over the line in the 18th minute.

The scoring began when Sanchez was embarrassed by Toney after collecting a Jimmy McNulty back pass.

And then later in the game : 

 then on 51 minutes Maddison took advantage of Sanchez's poor clearance to lob the goalkeeper.

 

Edited January 26, 20251 yr by Sexyfootball

Whoscored's view of Sanchez in that game : 

I think that might be the lowest rating I've ever seen on their website LOL.

First goal is hilarious. Best Sanchez brain fart yet LOL

he's comedy gold in quite a few places to be honest 🙂 

 

2 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Whoscored's view of Sanchez in that game : 

I think that might be the lowest rating I've ever seen on their website LOL.

First goal is hilarious. Best Sanchez brain fart yet LOL

he's comedy gold in quite a few places to be honest 🙂 

 

That 4th goal is the same sh*t he does every single game for us. Barely improved in all these years.