The Xabi Alonso era is underway at Chelsea. The Blues started their first campaign with the Basque coach on the touchline against Fulham Monday night, and while they did secure three points, there are growing concerns about goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
Sanchez could “haunt” Chelsea
Sanchez was put in the crosshairs despite Chelsea opening the season with a win away from home. The attack looked sharpened under Alonso, but there were some questions raised after Fulham scored two goals on shots in which many experts thought the keeper could have and should have done better.
One of those pundits that expressed their concern was Jamie Carragher. In Sky Sports’ post match show, the Liverpool legend said,“They conceded a couple of goals and you look at the goalkeeper. They have to sort the goalkeeper issue out because it’s going to come back to haunt them this season, as it did tonight.”
Luckily for Alonso’s men, they got on the board within the first minute of the match, which put them in control for the majority of the night. Joao Pedro put The Blues up with a lovely dink over the keeper after Cole Palmer played the Brazilian in to the area. Joshua King equalized in the 23rd minute with a shot from the top of the area to the near post, and Sanchez looked late in reacting to the shot from the Fulham midfielder.
Chelsea not done signing yet?
Summer signing Morgan Rodgers would put Chelsea back on top right before the halftime break and Cole Palmer would stretch the lead to 3-1 in the early part of the second half, but again Sanchez would be singled out after saving a shot from Timothy Castagne but letting the rebound fall for Gonzalo Garcia right in front of the face of goal.
🏴 Check out what Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville said after last night’s Chelsea match about the goalkeeper situation:
🗣️ Carragher: “Chelsea cannot win the league with Sanchez, it’s IMPOSSIBLE.”
🗣️ Neville: “I don’t know if Emi Martinez is available or not but someone… pic.twitter.com/B9bFcjlVlj
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footballtweet) August 25, 2026
After the match, former Manchester United star and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville urged Chelsea to dip into the transfer market before it closes. “They’ve added an experienced player in centre-back, centre-midfield and centre-forward. I don’t know if Emi Martinez is available or not but someone like that needs to come in at Chelsea, because that will undermine everything they do. The positives for Fulham came from the encouragement Sanchez gave them with the goals. The goals were both mistakes. It’s a problem,” said Neville.
Chelsea had one of the busiest and most expensive summers of any club in the Premier League and in the world. They spent more than $460 million this summer on signings like Morgan Rodgers ($157 million), Maxence Lacroix ($70 million), and Marco Palestra ($66 million). Xabi Alonso was handed the keys to the car when named manager, and is in charge of molding this team. Time will tell if he urges Chelsea to dip into the transfer market and look for a keeper before it closes on 6:00 p.m. ET September 1st.
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