Robert Sanchez feels wrath of furious Chelsea star as Liam Rosenior set for key meeting

The main talking points and moments missed from Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday with the Blues seeing a player sent off for the ninth time this season

The same old story. When this Chelsea side is faced with adversity, they cannot keep their heads. Their players are not cool enough in the critical moments of matches.

Pedro Neto’s second-half red card in the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday afternoon was the Blues’ ninth red card of the season. The 10th if you include Enzo Maresca’s against Liverpool.

It felt as if it was the first time since his appointment in January that Liam Rosenior completely accepted Chelsea do have a problem when it comes to discipline. Thankfully he has now admitted it because it was getting too difficult to dismiss.

“It’s disappointing for Pedro because he’s a very, very good player and we want him on the pitch,” explained Rosenior. “Up to that moment, he was actually causing Arsenal so many problems.

“It’s a frustrating thing for us, not just today, but we’re going to miss him against Aston Villa [on Wednesday]. But it’s not just Pedro. I think as a group, me as the leader as well, we have to take more accountability for some of the decision-making we’re having in terms of our discipline and in terms of the moments of the goals, not just today, the goals we conceded. Some of them are not acceptable at this level.”

Pressed further on the issue, Rosenior added: “You can fine players [as a punishment]. It’s not about the punishment. It’s about finding the reason why.

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“I don’t think Pedro Neto today or Wes Fofana last week would have in that moment been thinking about, if I get a red card, I’m going to get fined. It’s a focus and a concentration thing that we need to get right.

“I know the record of the club is not great from the start of the season, and now it’s getting bad. We had 10 games when I was in where we didn’t have these issues, but we’ve had two in two games.

“There’s something deep-lying that we need to get to the bottom of. The thing is, for me, if we get to the bottom of those two main things, we can be a very, very good team and we can achieve all the things we want to achieve.”

Chelsea, though, conceded the two goals that ultimately lost them the match while it was 11vs11. Arsenal looked to be there for the taking and the Blues were finding space in areas on the counter attack but the visitors’ final ball was wasteful.

Too many times Chelsea would turn the ball over when there was space in front of them to hurt the Gunners. A wasteful pass led to Arsenal getting the corner for the opening goal of the game, Jorrel Hato looking for Neto with an optimistic ball that was difficult to execute. Arsenal then kept the ball before working a corner.

Not only were Chelsea below par with their final ball, they were also off it with their first ball. Arsenal are a fantastic pressing team, we all know that. Rosenior knows that. It was evident for everyone to see in the matches they had played in January and February. So there should be no surprises when Arsenal got right in Chelsea’s faces but it seemed to almost shock them.

Robert Sanchez has been brilliant this season and his improvement has been there for everyone to see, but he had a shocker on Sunday. His passing out from the back was abysmal at times, especially in the first half.

Very early on, Sanchez almost got caught pondering on the ball by Viktor Gyokeres, who perhaps should have done better. From that moment on, Sanchez seemed to second-guess every single decision he made. The Chelsea goalkeeper got in his own head.

Seventeen minutes in, Sanchez looked to play the ball into midfield and slipped while kicking the ball straight to Declan Rice. Arsenal again let Chelsea off but Trevoh Chalobah was absolutely furious with his goalkeeper. football.london spotted the Chelsea defender shouting at Sanchez to let him know exactly what he thought of his opening 17 minutes.

Sanchez was then caught in no man’s land for Arsenal’s winning goal. It is difficult for goalkeepers nowadays when it comes to set pieces because there is absolute mayhem in the box and there is not a lot of space to move in. Either way, Sanchez’s ability to come and collect a cross is one of his best attributes as a goalkeeper, so nobody will be more disappointed with what he did, or didn’t do, for Jurrien Timber’s goal.

Defending set plays is certainly an issue for Chelsea and Rosenior noted that in his post-match press conference, but there is no doubt that the lack of discipline in the squad is a bigger problem. Not only red cards, but needless yellows, too. See Enzo Fernandez, for instance, who was booked in the second half for throwing the ball in anger after a decision went against the visitors.

Dissent is something Chelsea’s players consistently get in trouble for and Rosenior is planning on holding a meeting with the staff and players to try and find a way to solve the issue. “We need to do something, for sure,” Rosenior said when asked about the dissent issue. “I need to speak to the coaching staff, the staff around the club, the players, because it’s not acceptable.

“Especially the last two games, we’ve caused our own issues, even here against a very good team. You can see there’s a lot of good in our play. There’s a lot of good technically, tactically, the quality of our play. But if we don’t eradicate this, it’s going to be the thing that costs us.”

A Neto-less Chelsea travel to Aston Villa in what feels like a must-win match on Wednesday evening. While Neto sits out due to his ban, Chelsea will welcome back Wesley Fofana from his. Rosenior needs to somehow make sure Neto’s is the final suspension of the season for Chelsea, but that seems highly unlikely.

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