Jamie Carragher took aim at Robert Sanchez following Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, claiming the ‘scared’ goalkeeper must be replaced if the club are to ‘get back to where they want to be’.
Nicolas Jackson dragged Chelsea back into Sunday’s heavyweight contest after Mohamed Salah’s first-half penalty, only for Curtis Jones to restore Liverpool’s lead just moments later.
Chelsea had chances to draw level for a second time at Anfield but hosts Liverpool held onto their narrow advance to reclaim top spot from Premier League champions Manchester City, who beat Wolves earlier in the day.
Sanchez had seemingly nailed down his place as Chelsea’s number one following Enzo Maresca’s arrival in the summer but the shot-stopper had a game to forget on Merseyside.
Having almost cost his side while playing out from the back, Sanchez should perhaps have done better for Jones’ winner and Carragher accused the Spaniard of cowardice for his part in the goal.
‘What I don’t like is that when he goes he turns his face. It’s almost like he’s scared of getting hit by the ball,’ the ex-Liverpool and England defender said in his post-match analysis for Sky Sports.
‘You go back to Peter Schmeichel and when he’d come out he would just make himself as big as possible.
‘He [Sanchez] comes out to Curtis Jones and Curtis Jones should be absolutely terrified that a ‘keeper is coming towards him, he’s 6 ft 4, he’s coming on top of him.
‘But he [Sanchez] is scared of the ball and Curtis Jones and he’s turning his head away.
‘You’ve got to get there and hopefully it hits you in the face and keep it out.
‘We talk about Chelsea and the money they’ve spent and where they still need things… they need a new goalkeeper if they’re going to get back to where they want to be.’
Cole Palmer had one of his quieter games since joining Chelsea from Manchester City and Carragher felt the England international was some way from his ‘best’.
‘When you’ve got someone like Cole Palmer, he’s going to be a big focus of Liverpool before the game so Curtis Jones is all over that. Maybe, at times, Andy Robertson is tucking in,’ he added.
‘You think about how narrow Liverpool were at times and that meant that there was space on the outside.
‘So even though we say that Cole Palmer wasn’t at his best, Liverpool gave up a lot of space out wide so [Jadon] Sancho, in the first half, [Noni] Madueke as well, [Pedro] Neto, had so much time to run at the full-backs because Liverpool had to keep it tight in midfield.
‘The one who was getting time in midfield was [Romeo] Lavia but also [Malo] Gusto was picking the ball up, you’re not going to leave Palmer in a lot of space. But the fact they put Gusto there surprised Liverpool and that’s why, for the main, they controlled the game.’
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