[Albion] Was forcing Sanchez out the worst decision our club has made in years?

[BN9 BHA]

Replacing Murray with CMS remains the biggest f*** up the club have made in the last half century

Is the correct answer

 

[WATFORD zero]

I’m with you on this. There’s been so much revisionism on both Steele and Sanchez on these boards.

People claiming such rubbish like Steele pulling us up to 6th last year when he played 8 games less than Sanchez, won us less points, was statistically worse in everything but passing out from the back, conceded more goals per game and was in goal when we got spanked at the back end of the season in embarrassing fashion by Everton, Forest, Newcastle etc.

I appreciate RDZ wants something stylistically from a keeper, and I appreciate that maybe Sanchez couldn’t provide that. But being able to pass more effectively shouldn’t be at the expense of basic goalkeeping skill, otherwise you continue to put yourself in the position we’re in where we have a keeper in Steele who basically doesn’t make a save unless it’s hit right at him. And that’s just not good enough.

We had a whole team of highly skilled individuals employed in order to help Sanchez (and the other keepers) provide exactly what was required by focusing on any areas of weakness, but he wasn't prepared to work at it and withdrew from the squad instead. And why should a basic footballing skill have to be at the expense of a basic goalkeeping skill. I'm sure it's possible for a highly paid professional footballer to practice more than one thing

 

[Perfidious Albion]

Nobody forced Sanchez out. He was playing badly, got dropped, threw his toys out of the pram and engineered a move to a bigger club. The last I saw, they had dropped him too.
IMHO the two keepers we now have are better than him and I don’t blame Steele for last night.

 

[Guinness Boy]

No.

This

 

[Guinness Boy]

I can’t be bothered to read all of this ridiculous thread but has anyone else mentioned him throwing in an equaliser against Palace in a game we dominated?

 

[Oh_aye]

I'm going to have to see your working out on this one.

 

[nwgull]

Nobody forced Sanchez out. He was playing badly, got dropped, threw his toys out of the pram and engineered a move to a bigger club. The last I saw, they had dropped him too.
IMHO the two keepers we now have are better than him and I don’t blame Steele for last night.

Not the whole story really. He was playing badly and got dropped but didn't throw his toys out of the pram. What he did was to professionally continue as back-up for 6 games before getting a chance at redemption by being recalled for Chelsea away and the FAC semi, and despite playing well in both was dropped to the bench again. He only threw the toys 4 games later when his replacement conceded 5 goals against a terrible Everton team but still kept his place. I don't think it was a rash judgement to say that he was never going to be more than an understudy after the manager has made that decision.

 

[Littlemo]

I think that to be fair RDZ handled it badly. I thought he went a bit too all in with how publicly he declared Steele his no 1, it wasn’t necessary and if you are Sanchez you must be starting to think that the manager doesn’t want you.

This was compounded by Sanchez playing well in the cup against Man U, then not keeping the place, Steele having a terrible game against Everton, yet not getting dropped. As a player you want to be given a fair shot at the first team, or have some pathway to playing, it must have became clear to Sanchez that he did not have one.

The problem was that Sanchez became unprofessional about it when he was refusing to be named in the squad. You can’t do that and when it came out, it just makes him look like a petulant player with a bad attitude.

I do think it was a mistake though, he was a decent keeper, but RDZ clearly didn’t like him as a keeper so regardless of being pushed or choosing it, he was always going to go regardless.

 

[London Irish]

The one thing worse than getting spanked is all the shit threads that follow. Even from usually decent posters.

Indeed. This is a particularly stupid one because the facts are well known. But yes the job of a messageboard is for people to vent to get over a bad result so no real harm I think - even if it means a few myths get greater circulation

 

[phoenix]

Is the correct answer

Tiltman for Saunders

 

[El Presidente]

Calling @Dr. No

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Guess I've been stewing over one of my favourite players being dropped for a good 12 months. I accepted it when the style of play had Steele as a key focal point and it was producing results.

Its harder to accept when our style has reverted back to what we were playing when Sanchez was in goal.

It's harder to accept when other team's keepers produce man of the match performances in games we otherwise dominate, but the reverse is never true.

So it's not one game or two games or five games, it's just an ongoing litany of exasperation on my part. The situation is not changing and that is hugely frustrating. Maybe at 4 in the morning after an embarrassing performance and many bottles of beer wasnt the time to post it, but i can't say I feel different today.

But you'll agree I've been put in my place by most

I have some sympathy with your viewpoint just not necessarily the timing and overly dramatic phrasing. I'm not a fan of the pile on threads after defeats which is what this thread essentially comes across as(whether intended or not). If you'd started this thread with slightly more moderate wording and not in the immediate aftermath of a stuffing I think you could have got a decent debate out of it.

FWIW I think it's a shame that Sanchez left and how it ended. He is a keeper with a higher traditional goalkeeping ceiling than Steele and I've not seen anything yet from Bart to suggest his ceiling is significantly higher than Sanchez's. He has to take the lion's share of blame for his departure though.

That said Sanchez was erratic. To reach his ceiling he needs to perform consistently, something he is yet to do. If he doesn't he's never going to be a regular starter at any club.

 

[Blue3]

Steele is a very good premiership keeper when playing behind an established confident defence and that’s been the problem of late.
I would suggest our strongest back four is Purvis with Mitoma ahead, Veltman with March ahead, Dunk and Webster in the centre and only one of that lot is currently fit to play 90 minute.

 

[JBizzle]

No, he sat on the bench, then was recalled for Chelsea away and the cup semi, played really well, and was dropped again as soon as Steele was fit.

De Zerbi refused to play him. Don't shift the blame to Sanchez.

He was dropped because a) he wasn't suited to the way De Zerbi wanted to play and, more importantly, b) did want to learn whilst sitting on the bench.

“He wanted it this way (not travelling to be on the bench). Not me, not the club. We spoke before the Arsenal game and we decided together the best solution was to stay home.”

 

[Javeaseagull]

I remember feeling sorry for Sanchez at the time, being dropped for Steele. After that Sunderland til I die abomination he was made out to be a laughing stock and lucky to be our No 3 Goalie. His reputation in the game was at it’s lowest. For Sanchez, who had worked his way up to be No1, to be dropped for someone like that, it must have been hard to take. His mentor Roberts had left for Chelsea as well don’t forget. Anyway the fee we got for him more than paid for young Bart so thanks again Chelsea, so can’t be the worst decision we’ve ever made by a long way, which is the original question.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Steele is a very good premiership keeper when playing behind an established confident defence and that’s been the problem of late.
I would suggest our strongest back four is Purvis with Mitoma ahead, Veltman with March ahead, Dunk and Webster in the centre and only one of that lot is currently fit to play 90 minute.

Statistically he’s in the bottom percentile for almost everything required from a keeper at this level and has been since coming into the team.

People can pretend otherwise all they want, but the idea he’s ever been a very good Prem keeper is just a lie.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

We had a whole team of highly skilled individuals employed in order to help Sanchez (and the other keepers) provide exactly what was required by focusing on any areas of weakness, but he wasn't prepared to work at it and withdrew from the squad instead. And why should a basic footballing skill have to be at the expense of a basic goalkeeping skill. I'm sure it's possible for a highly paid professional footballer to practice more than one thing

I get the feeling you think you’re saying something I may disagree with, but I don’t. Again, more than one thing can be true at once.

Saying that, I would really appreciate it if someone took Steele aside and taught him how to be a competent keeper for this level, seeing as we have this team of highly skilled individuals surrounding him and he’s not improved as a keeper.

 

[Springal]

I get the feeling you think you’re saying something I may disagree with, but I don’t. Again, more than one thing can be true at once.

Saying that, I would really appreciate it if someone took Steele aside and taught him how to be a competent keeper for this level, seeing as we have this team of highly skilled individuals surrounding him and he’s not improved as a keeper.

Better defenders in front of him might help.

 

[Robinjakarta]

Ban this mug. How long you supported my team ?

He has a right to express his opinion same as all of us. I don't agree with it either. I also don't agree with name calling and calls for a ban in this case at least.

 

[dazzer6666]

I can’t be bothered to read all of this ridiculous thread but has anyone else mentioned him throwing in an equaliser against Palace in a game we dominated?

Same game Mac Allister couldn’t hit a cow’s arse, but still Sanchez’ fault we didn’t win