Liam Rosenior told he may need to replace Chelsea star who ‘keeps letting you down’

Troy Deeney says Chelsea may need to address their goalkeeping situation as Robert Sanchez is mentally suspect and ‘keeps letting you down’.

Serious questions have been asked of Sanchez’s credentials throughout his stay with Chelsea and the Spaniard did little to change that as the Blues were beaten in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final with Arsenal on Wednesday night.

The Gunners took a giant step towards this year’s final as goals from Ben White and Viktor Gyokeres gave Mikel Arteta’s men a two-goal advantage inside 49 minutes at Stamford Bridge.

Sanchez didn’t cover himself in glory for either effort, caught flapping at Declan Rice’s corner for White’s opener before allowed the ball to squeeze under him for Gyokeres to poke home Arsenal’s second.

The Blues did show some fight in the second period, though, with substitute Alejandro Garnacho netting either side of Martin Zubimendi’s superb 71st-minute finish to keep Arsenal on their toes ahead of the return leg at the Emirates.

But according to Deeney, Sanchez’s less-than-convincing presence between the sticks is a constant cause for concern at Chelsea – and something Liam Rosenior needs to fix given the goalkeeper’s shakiness in ‘big games’ and ‘big moments’.

‘When you talk about Sanchez, you’re not talking about his abilities, i.e., is he good with the ball at his feet, is he a good shot-stopper? Because he shows you in the game that he can do that,’ the former Watford captain said on CBS Sports.

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‘It’s mental and the best goalkeepers are the ones that can stay mentally focussed all the way through.

‘If you’re looking at any team in any league, the ones that win normally have a goalscorer that can get you 20 goals plus but also a goalkeeper that can save you in big moments.

‘He keeps showing you who he is, he keeps letting you down. It’s mentally, he switches off.

‘The bigger the game, the bigger the moment, he normally would be the one they’re worrying about.’

Deeney is confident opposition teams will continue to target Sanchez as long as he proves himself to be a liability with the gloves.

‘If I’m an opposition coach or player, I’m going, “Cross it, put it right on him”, and keep making him make mistakes,’ he added.

Deeney’s CBS Sports colleague, Nigel Reo-Coker, echoed Deeney’s comments about Sanchez, saying: ‘For me, he is not the goalkeeper that is going to take you to that [next] level.

‘He did have a little period of consistency but this is the problem.

‘When you’re talking about goalkeepers in big games like that, you can’t defend him.

‘He just doesn’t ever look comfortable under crosses and Chelsea just do look vulnerable, whether it’s Enzo Maresca or Liam Rosenior.’

Facing the media shortly after Chelsea’s first-leg defeat, Rosenior attempted to take some of the heat off Sanchez by claiming responsibility for his potentially costly mistakes.

‘I’m asking Rob to do things that he hasn’t done before. I said to him before the game, and I made this really clear, when my players make mistakes, I’m accountable. That’s on me,’ the newly appointed Chelsea boss told reporters.

‘He made a save in the second half that was absolutely world-class. That could have put us out of the tie. He will improve in terms of his understanding.

‘That’s Rob’s first game with me, I’ve had two days’ work with him. I have to put my imprint on the team. That’s why I’m here.

‘I don’t want to do that to the detriment of the results, but I need to make sure we win now, but we keep improving for where we want to get to this season. It’s a very fine margin.’

Rosenior went on: ‘There are a lot of positives in Rob’s performance.

‘What you’ll know with me is I protect my players. I’m asking him to do things. If he makes a mistake, doing what I’m asking him to do, that’s on me.

‘I have a lot of faith that in the long term we’ll improve as a team with the messages that we’re giving him in all the plays. My job is to help them, not to blame them.’

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