Chelsea have some fast players on their books, including Mykhailo Mudryk and Raheem Sterling.
And Tony Cascarino, who has been speaking about the Blues’ latest defeat to Brentford on talkSPORT, now thinks you can add someone else to the list.
Towards the end of the west London derby, Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez had to run back from Brentford’s box after coming up for a corner and actually managed to catch up with the Bees’ counter-attack.
In the end, the Spaniard could not prevent Brentford from scoring to make it 2-0, but he showed everyone at Stamford Bridge that he is certainly no slouch.
Robert Sanchez’s pace
That moment in the game did not go unnoticed, with Cascarino having now highlighted just how quick Sanchez is on talkSPORT.
The former Chelsea player said: “I looked at that moment and thought, ‘Sanchez was really quick.’ Now you can say [Neal] Maupay’s not blessed with pace, OK, that’s fine. But it was also he got going because if you watch [Bryan] Mbeumo and the goalkeeper Sanchez, they’re nearly level running. I know he’s trying to sort of keep onside as well.
“I was asking the listeners about their clubs they play [for], even non-league, their goalkeeper being one of the quickest because I’ve played with goalkeepers that are in the top three of the sprinters at the football club and thought, ‘Wow, how quick is our goalkeeper?’ You laugh because it doesn’t happen very often, but this was a clear case. Sanchez is quick.”
Robert Sanchez’s pace will come in handy
It is good that Sanchez does have speed in his locker. In this day and age, teams like Chelsea like to play high, so keepers need to be able to sweep and Sanchez clearly has the pace to do that.
Before the Brentford game, the 25-year-old made a big mistake in the Blues’ 2-2 draw with Arsenal. But overall, he has been pretty solid since arriving at Stamford Bridge in the summer.
According to FBref, Sanchez has a save percentage of 72.2%, which is more than respectable.
He won the Castrol Save of the Month award for September and is aiming to win the Golden Glove come May.
With the way Chelsea have played at times this season, though, his work may be cut out for him. The former Brighton & Hove Albion man is also going to have to avoid repeating what happened against Arsenal if he is to have any chance of keeping the most clean sheets.
It will not be easy, but it is good to see Sanchez setting a goal and trying to challenge himself.
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