While it is hard not to think Liam Rosenior has created an unnecessary headache for himself – Robert Sanchez was hardly chucking in goals when suddenly replaced by his understudy Filip Jorgensen – history tells us Chelsea’s headstrong head coach will withstand the scrutiny.
What happened with Ryan Allsop says so. While Rosenior was Wayne Rooney’s assistant at Derby County in 2021, the Championship side brought in Allsop from Wycombe. Rooney has since said Allsop was seen internally as their most important player because of how he practically acted as a playmaker. Rosenior agreed, so much so that he brought him to Hull City once he was in charge there.
It was midway through Rosenior’s final season with Hull that their outspoken owner, Acun Ilicali, signed a new Croatian goalkeeper called Ivor Pandur from Dutch side Fortuna Sittard. Ilicali spent a sum on Pandur, rumoured to be around £1.5million. He was his signing. He wanted to see him used, therefore.
It is said that this was privately communicated from owner to manager, but Rosenior continued to name Allsop in his starting line-up. He defended whatever mistakes he had made – his strengths with the ball at his feet were considered crucial to his playing philosophy and worth more.
That created friction between Rosenior and Ilicali and at the end of that season, when Hull finished seventh in the Championship and just missed out on the play-offs, he was sacked as head coach.
Allsop also left that summer as he believed his position was untenable without Rosenior there to have his back, and Pandur was immediately installed as Hull’s No 1.
Filip Jorgensen endured a torrid night in the Parc des Princes as he made a string of errors after being drafted in for Robert Sanchez
Jorgensen’s passing from the back even led to Chelsea players losing patience, with Enzo Fernandez (8) throwing the ball angrily at him when PSG scored an eventually disallowed goal
We cite this history lesson because now there is noise surrounding Rosenior’s choice of Jorgensen over Sanchez in goal, especially after the 23-year-old’s error-strewn showing against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last-16 first leg.
This just 24 hours after the world had watched Tottenham’s Antonin Kinsky capitulate in the Atletico Madrid cauldron, having been surprisingly brought in for Guglielmo Vicario.
Bold though Rosenior’s decision was, it backfired. Jorgensen’s passing from the back even led to Chelsea players losing patience, with Enzo Fernandez angrily throwing the ball at him when PSG scored an eventually disallowed goal. The Parisians still finished with five to leave Chelsea requiring a miracle comeback in Tuesday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge.
However, if Rosenior could take the heat internally from Ilicali at Hull, you suspect the complaints externally from supporters at Chelsea will not sway him either. He will do what he thinks is best for his brand of football.
Many of us think Sanchez should be Chelsea’s first choice. You suspect he would have saved the odd shot let in by Jorgensen in Paris, such as when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s effort squirmed under the young Dane’s body for PSG’s fifth. Rosenior does not appear to agree.
Jorgensen is generally considered to be a better passer and his pass map from Wednesday’s loss (below) shows how often he was on the ball, regularly looking to play short. By comparison, Sanchez’s pass map from the Club World Cup final victory over PSG in the summer demonstrates how he routinely looked long to bypass the high press of PSG. It was a pragmatic approach which worked well that day in New Jersey.
In any case, the goalkeeper situation is now a problem for Chelsea. Successful clubs have a recognised No 1, someone that players like Fernandez and everyone else feel they can trust behind them.
PSG had Gianluigi Donnarumma when they won the Champions League last year. Real Madrid had Thibaut Courtois the year before that. There was also Ederson for Manchester City, Manuel Neuer for Bayern Munich, Alisson Becker for Liverpool and so on.
Jorgensen’s ‘pass map’ from the defeat in Paris reveals how frequently he played the ball short
And Sanchez’s equivalent map from Chelsea’s Club World Cup triumph over PSG in July, showing how his direct kicking effectively bypassed the Parisians’ high press
You do wonder whether Rosenior (left) consulted his captaincy team before deciding to drop Sanchez (right) for Jorgensen, or if he will now need to do so before their next game
At Strasbourg, Rosenior had Mike Penders as his undisputed No 1, and this summer Chelsea will decide whether the 20-year-old Belgian should stay or leave on loan for another season
You do wonder whether Rosenior consulted his captaincy team, led by Reece James, before deciding to drop Sanchez for Jorgensen, or if he will now need to do so before their next game.
Jorgensen’s confidence is low following his jitters in Paris, and Sanchez’s will be equally low after learning that Rosenior does not see him as worthy of being trusted with these big games, so Chelsea must see through this season with a spotlight on their stopper between the sticks.
At Strasbourg, Rosenior had Mike Penders as his undisputed No 1, and when this summer arrives, Chelsea’s sporting leadership team will decide between them whether the 20-year-old Belgian should stay or leave on loan for another season. We can guess what Rosenior’s vote will be, and it may be that the club look at the goalkeeper market to see if any other senior options are available.
Ross Turnbull, Chelsea’s goalkeeper scouting manager, was also at the Under-17 World Cup in Qatar in November as they continue to search for those coming through for the future.
For now, though, it is either Sanchez or Jorgensen for Chelsea, and whoever it is that faces Newcastle in the Premier League this Saturday, they will feel the eyes of everyone on them. That has been Rosenior’s doing over the last two weeks.
