In this summer transfer window, Chelsea tried to sell Dorde Petrovic, but he refused to leave the club. So, the club decided to send him on a loan to Strasbourg. Chelsea sent some other players to their sister club Strasbourg which includes Andrey Santos, Diego Moreira. Recently, Strasbourg have defeated Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille with a score-line of 1-0.
Diego Moreira scored the winning goal for Strasbourg. Petrovic was able to keep a clean sheet in this match. So, it was a solid performance from the Serbian goalkeeper. After the match, reporters asked him about his performance. According to SBnation, he replied that he was happy to perform for the club but his ultimate purpose is to get back to the number one spot at Chelsea.
After the appointment of Enzo Maresca, Petrovic lost his position at Stamford Bridge. This incident has triggered a hunger inside the Serbian goalkeeper.
Possible return of Petrovic
At this moment, Chelsea have Robert Sanchez as their number-one goalkeeping option. But he is not performing well. The Spaniard is making a lot of mistakes at the back. When Chelsea played Brighton, he made a mistake and gave away an easy chance to Baleba. After that, the Brighton attacker scored a goal against the Blues. This made the Chelsea fans angry.
When Mauricio Pochettino was managing Chelsea, Petrovic was the number one choice for him. The young goalkeeper delivered solid performances under the Argentine manager. On the other hand, Maresca has preferred Sanchez for his ball distribution ability. But if he continues to perform like this, Chelsea have to call up Petrovic from his loan spell. Sanchez must consider him as a serious competitor.
Enzo Maresca want to build a team which will play possession-based football. In his system, passing is the most important thing. For sound passing and distribution of the ball, he needs a goalkeeper who is confident with his passing abilities.
We have seen how Leicester City dominated Championship under Enzo Maresca and got promoted back to English Premier League. The foxes played beautiful and fluent football which matches of Pep Guardiola style of playing.
Last season, Robert Sanchez started a few games as Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper. As the season progressed, he got some injuries. So, the Spaniard missed out most of the games in 2023-2024 season. Dorde Petrovic took his position and played as Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Robert’s first season at Chelsea was mixed with a couple of good and bad moments. For example, Chelsea drew a game against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge because Sanchez gave a ball straight to the opponent. Before that incident, Chelsea were winning the match. If Robert Sanchez want to be a word-class goalkeeper, he must avoid these types of mistakes.
In the English Premier League, there are some world-class players who can punish the opponent for a tiny mistake. So, these types of mistakes are absolutely unacceptable.
On the other hand, there were some moments where Robert Sanchez became the savior for Chelsea. He made some heroic saves which helped Chelsea to win games. When the entire team was lacking confidence, Sanchez stood alone and made one after another saves to protect Chelsea’s net. The Blues need this type of mentality because it helps the entire team to improve their performances.
Alternative options
If Robert Sanchez cannot improve his performance, there are other alternative options for Chelsea. At one side, they have Dorde Petrovic, on the other side they have young Gabriel Slonina who is currently on loan to a championship side called Barnsley. Both of them are extremely talented goalkeepers and they are keen to grab any golden opportunity.
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