After Chelsea’s horrendous defensive record last season, conceding 63 goals in 38 Premier League games (their worst defensive record in the past ten years), Enzo Maresca has been given the task of reducing that number this time around and asserting more control for the Blues.
Whilst it hasn’t been a huge turnaround, Chelsea have conceded 34 goals in 25 games this season, making their goals conceded per 90 metric 1.36. This would mean if the Blues continue on this trajectory, they will finish the season having conceded 52 goals (51.68 rounded up).
Season
Goals Conceded
League position
2014/15
32
1st
2015/16
53
10th
2016/17
33
1st
2017/18
38
5th
2018/19
39
3rd
2019/20
54
4th
2020/21
36
4th
2021/22
33
3rd
2022/23
47
12th
2023/24
63
6th
Averaging 58.6% possession so far this season, which is the second-highest in this metric and only averaging 11.3 shots conceded per game this season, the sixth fewest in the division, Chelsea have made strides to improve their overall defensive unit, but there are still a few major holes that continue to let them down.
Robert Sanchez's Chelsea form
Chelsea made the signing of Robert Sanchez in the 2023/24 summer transfer window, joining for a fee of around £25m. The 27-year-old has made 43 appearances for the Blues since joining, conceding 59 goals and keeping nine clean sheets, totalling 3,864 minutes played.
Sanchez has been a major culprit at Chelsea in their recent poor run of form, making some huge errors – including in the defeat to Manchester City – leading to Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville to state:
“It’s too important a position and I think Chelsea at this point in time are going to have to look at it. He’s making far too many errors week in, week out.”
To further rubberstamp that point, the former Brighton man currently leads the way in the division – alongside Ipswich’s Arijanet Muric – with regard to most errors leading to a goal (five) in the top flight in 2024/25.
In recent weeks, Sanchez has been dropped to the Chelsea bench, with summer signing Filip Jorgensen being given the number one spot instead, but the Blues must reflect back to when they had one of the very best in the world in this position once upon a time.
Chelsea once had the "Messi of goalkeepers"
Chelsea sold Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid in 2018, with the Belgian leaving for a fee of around £35m. In his time at Chelsea, the shot-stopper made 154 appearances, conceding 152 goals, keeping 58 clean sheets and totalling 13,834 minutes played.
Stats (per 90 mins)
Courtois
Sanchez
Jorgensen
Goals Against
1.09
1.38
1.08
Shots Against
3.53
4.58
4.46
Saves
2.50
3.20
3.38
Save %
73.5%
74.8%
77.6%
Clean Sheets
0.31
0.18
0.31
Clean Sheet %
31.3%
18.2%
30.8%
Passes Attempted
31.7
38.1
28.0
Post-Shot xG
1.09
1.32
1.63
Post-Shot xG per Shot on Target
0.29
0.25
0.28
When comparing Courtois to the current Chelsea goalkeepers, your first thought may be that Jorgensen and Sanchez actually have higher save percentages and face more shots against them, which gives them better shot-stopping metrics.
However, when looking at “Post-Shot xG per Shot on Target”, you can see Courtois actually faces higher xG shots during a game, while also boasting a better clean sheet percentage.
Ex-Real Madrid goalkeeper, Santi Canizares, labelled Courtois “the Maradona, Messi, Cristiano of goalkeepers”. Canizares also stated he is “better than the rest and he performs every day”, which is shown in his Real Madrid numbers, making 268 appearances for the Spanish giants, conceding 254 goals, keeping 107 clean sheets and totalling 24,229 minutes played.
With many Chelsea fans continuing to bang the drum that they need a world-class goalkeeper between the sticks to challenge for major honours, had Courtois never left, the Blues would have been in a much stronger position.
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