Jamie Carragher has claimed Chelsea will be unable to win titles until they fix their goalkeeping situation, after a calamitous mistake from No 2 Filip Jorgensen gave Paris Saint-Germain the lead on Wednesday night.
Liam Rosenior’s side fell to a heavy 5-2 defeat at Parc des Princes, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s late brace creating a mountain for Chelsea to climb in the return leg at Stamford Bridge next week.
Chelsea had played well in the opening stages, coming from behind twice to draw the scores level until a costly error from Jorgensen sparked the late collapse.
Jorgensen, picked ahead of Robert Sanchez for the trip to Paris, played a risky ball on the edge of his area that was intercepted by Bradley Barcola and allowed Vitinha to score with a wonderful lob over the Danish goalkeeper.
‘It was the best game I’ve seen in the Champions League this season,’ Carragher said on CBS Sports.
‘Chelsea didn’t deserve to lose 5-2, but they only have themselves to blame for that. I’ve been critical of Chelsea for a long time. They can’t go any further until they sort the goalkeeping issue out. I’ve been saying this consistently.
Chelsea captain Reece James appeared to urge Filip Jorgensen to head over to the away end and acknowledge the travelling supporters after the final whistle
Jorgensen, clearly distraught by his mistake, ignored James and headed straight for the tunnel
‘The new owners have come in and spent billions. Looking at that team, they’ve got some great players. I think that in these early stages, Rosenior’s been brilliant. They caused PSG real problems.
‘They didn’t deserve to lose based on how they set up and the way they played. But, big mistakes cost them at centre-back and goalkeeper. That will continue to be an issue for any Chelsea manager going forward when they’re trying to win the Premier League and the Champions League, because they are a million miles off it.
‘That’s why they lost tonight. Tactically they were fantastic tonight. They were let down by a mistake by the goalkeeper at 2-2, and then the game just completely unravelled and now it looks like they’ve got no chance of going through.’
At the final whistle, Jorgensen was seen marching straight towards the tunnel. Meanwhile, Chelsea captain Reece James appeared to shout at the goalkeeper, urging him to head over to the away end and acknowledge the travelling supporters – something Jorgensen initially refused to do.
James seemed to call after him once, and when Jorgensen ignored the instruction, he pointed towards the Chelsea fans and shouted again.
As Jorgensen approached the tunnel, he was intercepted by fellow goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, who appeared to turn him around and persuade him to go back and applaud the supporters.
Liam Rosenior shouldered the blame of Jorgensen’s mistake after the match, claiming that it was a result of the way that he had set the side up.
‘You have risks playing every way you play. You can kick long and it goes straight back into your net. You can build. That’s the risk that we take. I take responsibility. I’m accountable for that,’ he said.
Jorgensen did eventually return to acknowledge the travelling fans after being convinced to do so by fellow goalkeeper Robert Sanchez
Jamie Carragher claimed that the goalkeeping problem will ‘continue to be an issue for any Chelsea manager going forward when they’re trying to win (major trophies)’
He also defended his decision to start Jorgensen instead of Sanchez, whom he had also dropped for last week’s 4-1 victory against Aston Villa. The Spaniard, who is five years older than Jorgensen, also has a reputation for costly mistakes.
Last season Sanchez made five errors leading to goals in the Premier League, the most on record (since 2007-08) by a Chelsea player in a single campaign.
‘They have different qualities – Rob is outstanding from crosses and an outstanding shot stopper. I am trying to win in the short term and win in the long term as well,’ Rosenior added.
‘One of the reasons we won at Aston Villa was because we were so calm in our possession moments, which we weren’t before – that’s not on Rob, that’s on the whole team.
‘Coming here against a really high-pressing team, if you stay calm and play through the initial press, you can cause problems, which we did. It’s just painful that we made that mistake in that moment to make the game 3-2.
‘Credit to him, he held his hands up in the dressing room. Mistakes happen and sometimes they’re more costly and painful than other times – this is one of those moments.’
