the Chelsea News
·13 September 2025
Leave him alone!” – Roberto Di Matteo slams critics and urges people to back off Chelsea star

In partnership with
Yahoo sportsthe Chelsea News
·13 September 2025
Roberto Di Matteo has slammed critics of Robert Sanchez, as he leapt to the defence of the under fire Chelsea goalkeeper.
Sanchez is now in his third season as Chelsea’s number one, but the common consensus is the club need a top class goalkeeper.
The Spaniard did shows signs of improvement towards the end of last season, but there’s no evidence yet that he’s eliminated the costly errors from his game.
Sanchez cost Chelsea a number of goals last season, but his shot stopping saved the Blues on a number of occasions.
Chelsea had the opportunity to sign Mike Maignan earlier this summer, whilst Joe Cole has also questioned Sanchez.
The Blues were also linked with Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the Italian swapped Paris Saint Germain for Manchester City in the end.
Sanchez has been heavily criticised during his time at Chelsea. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
John Obi Mikel can’t understand why Chelsea didn’t replace Sanchez this summer, but Di Matteo has now leapt to the goalkeeper’s defence.
“Leave him alone! I had this question last season,” he told GOAL.
“You only focus on the mistakes. I know a goalkeeper makes a mistake and it is highlighted because most of the time it is a goal, but there are positives.
“Switch it around for once. Look at how many good saves he made, how many points he won for the team. Yes, he has made some mistakes — every goalkeeper makes mistakes. But we can move on and be objective about Sanchez.
“OK, he has made six/seven mistakes that led to goals but how many points has he saved for the club with crucial saves? Let’s look at that. I think he’s a very good goalkeeper.”
Di Matteo believes a new goalkeeper wasn’t a priority for the Blues this summer, and believes criticism of Sanchez has been unfair.
“It wasn’t a priority over the summer for the club for a new goalkeeper,” he added.
More Stories / Latest News
“They are happy. Last season, two trophies. How many teams won two trophies last season? Conference League and Club World Cup.
“He’s very good. At the moment they focus on the negatives and I think it’s unfair.”
Live
Live
Live
Live
Live