Liam Rosenior weighs in on Chelsea goalkeeper debate after Filip Jorgensen's PSG nightmare | OneFootball

Blues manager challenged his shotstoppers to ‘show me what they can do’ as debate rages over who belongs between the sticks

Liam Rosenior insists he has never told a Chelsea goalkeeper they are his No1, and has explained why the club does not need one.

For multiple seasons, the goalkeeping department has been seen by many as a position of weakness within the Chelsea squad.

The situation has been inflamed over the past 10 days after Rosenior made the controversial decision against Aston Villa last weekend to drop first-choice goalkeeper Robert Sanchez following an error against Arsenal, promoting the less experienced Filip Jorgensen instead.

Jorgensen was then handed another start in the Champions League last 16 against Paris Saint-Germain, effectively confirming him as the new No1, but he made high-profile errors that contributed directly to goals as Chelsea were beaten 5-2 at the Parc des Princes.

Rosenior insists he has no first-choice goalkeeper, that Jorgensen is better with his feet and Sanchez a better shot-stopper, but the decision not to have a clear No1 has been criticised. It remains unclear who will start in goal against Newcastle on Saturday.

“I want competition in every area of the pitch. The only difference with a goalkeeper, you’re one mistake away from this situation, whether Rob makes a mistake against Arsenal that ends up in the net or not, or Filip makes a mistake against PSG, it ends up in a goal or not.

Filip Jorgensen endured a nightmare outing as Chelsea were beaten by PSG on Wednesday night

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“Because of the nature of the goalkeeper position, it’s spoken about more. I’m going to give every player in the squad an opportunity to show me what they can do to win now but also what they can do in terms of the long-term which is to win things consistently in the long-term. And both goalkeepers in different ways are showing me really, really good things.”

Rosenior was reminded that all great football teams in history have had a clear standout goalkeeper, to which he said: “I think if you go through history and most great clubs, whether it’s a goalkeeper position, a No9 position, those shirts are earned on form, those shirts are earned on performance.

“[Look at] Petr Cech, here, as a goalkeeper. When Petr Cech came here he was a very young goalkeeper, same with [Thibaut] Courtois. They earned their time with the performances and earned their reputation with their performances they gave on the pitch.”

Robert Sanchez has also produced some glaring errors this season

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Legendary Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel claimed to a TV broadcaster on Wednesday that he had been told fellow Dane, Jorgensen, was informed by Rosenior he was the new Chelsea No1.

“No,” Rosenior said, when that was put to him. “I have not said to either keeper behind closed doors who is No1 and who is not. I have told them things they need to improve on and where they have done really well.

“I have never had a conversation with a keeper and said ‘you’re my No 1’.”

Rosenior insisted Sanchez had been “great” since being dropped. He added: “Obviously, to miss out, for any player, the ones who did not come off the bench to play in a game as big as PSG, you are naturally going to be disappointed.

“Rob is still one of the best keepers in this league and he has trained really, really well to get back in the team.”