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

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chickens

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Oct 12, 2022
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This entire thread is (to me) based on two equally false premises:

1. That Sanchez was better than he is.

and

2. That Sanchez was a model professional, listening eagerly to the goalkeeping coach and working on the areas his coach asked him to.

I don’t believe either premise, and when Mr Flappy flapped his goodbyes to the place where every day is payday, he went with my blessing and an earnest desire that he stay there.
 




Kalimantan Gull

Well-known member
Aug 13, 2003
13,437
Central Borneo / the Lizard
This entire thread is (to me) based on two equally false premises:

1. That Sanchez was better than he is.

and

2. That Sanchez was a model professional, listening eagerly to the goalkeeping coach and working on the areas his coach asked him to.

I don’t believe either premise, and when Mr Flappy flapped his goodbyes to the place where every day is payday, he went with my blessing and an earnest desire that he stay there.

If you can point me to the thread after thread on here that wasn't happy with Sanchez whilst he was playing for us, then I'll concede to your point.
 


chickens

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If you can point me to the thread after thread on here that wasn't happy with Sanchez whilst he was playing for us, then I'll concede to your point.

I’m not trawling back through thread after thread to provide you with links to negative comments about Sanchez, there were plenty, and you know how to use the search function. He threw the ball in the net at Palace, and while he made some great saves for us was far too prone to flapping at passing crosses without getting anywhere near them.

He’d get decidedly stressed if closed down quickly as well. He was alright. A step up from Maty Ryan, not as good as I believe Bart’s going to be, and either unwilling or incapable of adapting his style of play to suit what the head coach wanted.

He was moved on and quite rightly so, it’s baffling that we’re still talking about him. If there is a point, then like Sanchez trying to punch away a cross, I’ve missed it.
 


I've not seen such an epic "flog a dead horse" thread on here for quite a while
 


sparkie

Well-known member
Jul 17, 2003
13,267
Hove

Sanchez refused to be part of the squad unless he was starting. Simple, and crap behaviour.

Being on the bench means being part of the team, and means there is a chance you will be called upon as a sub. So yes refusing to be on the bench is refusing to play.
Indeed.

He was paid handsomely to be available for the team ( as a sub if required ), and when he refused he had to go.

Choosing to be available only if picked in the first 11 is a disgrace tbh, and that is his legacy.
 




ROSM

Well-known member
Dec 26, 2005
6,771
Just far enough away from LDC
Football is a team sport, but nothing he did in the pitch suggested he wasn't committed to that. And how Cantona would have behaved if benched every game, I think we can all imagine.
The only people who can answer that are the players and the coaching staff.

But this is a chicken and egg situation. Did issues arise because he was benched or was he benched because issues arose and the situation deteriorated rather than improved.
 








severnside gull

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May 16, 2007
24,825
By the seaside in West Somerset
Proper goalkeeping talent, best young keeper I've ever seen at Brighton, could pull off blinding saves, pluck the ball out of the air, then had a little wobble and was suddenly ostracised.

Apparently not good enough with his feet. Really? I'm watching Steele mess up pass after pass, clearance after clearance tonight, and just thinking - was that decision really worth it?
Pluck the ball out of the air….? Remember Palace?
And now Chelsea are ready to let him go.

Right decision. No question.
 




b.w.2.

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Jan 8, 2004
5,189
Clearly not
 






chickens

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Yes, we all remember Palace. Amazing how much else seems to have been forgotten, eh?

TBF, I think we remember him how he was, a reasonable keeper who was also a bit of a dickhead and didn’t suit the head coach’s style of play.

It’s just you and @Kalimantan Gull with the fairly inexplicable man-crush for an ex-player who really couldn’t (or didn’t want to) adapt.
 


GT49er

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TBF, I think we remember him how he was, a reasonable keeper who was also a bit of a dickhead and didn’t suit the head coach’s style of play.

It’s just you and @Kalimantan Gull with the fairly inexplicable man-crush for an ex-player who really couldn’t (or didn’t want to) adapt.
Just the two who don't agree with you? I don't think you've read this thread very well then. Minority opinion to be true, but if you can find any posts pre de Zerbi screaming for Steele to be played ahead of Sanchez ........................................... well you won't, I'm sure. I don't think there was ever a single one calling for Sunderland's former GK to replace our young home-grown Spanish international keeper, that we were very proud of!
Still, history is always re-written by the winners, or so I've heard!
 




zefarelly

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Jul 7, 2003
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Just the two who don't agree with you? I don't think you've read this thread very well then. Minority opinion to be true, but if you can find any posts pre de Zerbi screaming for Steele to be played ahead of Sanchez ........................................... well you won't, I'm sure. I don't think there was ever a single one calling for Sunderland's former GK to replace our young home-grown Spanish international keeper, that we were very proud of!
Still, history is always re-written by the winners, or so I've heard!
No one had heard of RDZ or how he played, no one knew what he'd want from a GK . . hardly any, if any knew DS could play football, but we all knew Bob.S was a bit calamitous on occasion ( a mix is Spain and goalkeeper is as good a recipe as you'll get) added to an NDP failure of the highest order, a la Ryan . . .he was an upgrade on the shrinking Aus, Steele was a practical alternative who has had a purple patch, and is, for our style, as good. BV is an upgrade again.

'Our young home-grown Spanish international keeper' THat's funny. . .do you also write PR for Tory MP's ? 😂😉
 


GT49er

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Feb 1, 2009
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No one had heard of RDZ or how he played, no one knew what he'd want from a GK . . hardly any, if any knew DS could play football, but we all knew Bob.S was a bit calamitous on occasion ( a mix is Spain and goalkeeper is as good a recipe as you'll get) added to an NDP failure of the highest order, a la Ryan . . .he was an upgrade on the shrinking Aus, Steele was a practical alternative who has had a purple patch, and is, for our style, as good. BV is an upgrade again.

'Our young home-grown Spanish international keeper' THat's funny. . .do you also write PR for Tory MP's ? 😂😉
Joined us at age 15. That equals home grown. Any other facts you'd like to reclassify as non-facts?
 




Kalimantan Gull

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Central Borneo / the Lizard
I’m not trawling back through thread after thread to provide you with links to negative comments about Sanchez, there were plenty, and you know how to use the search function. He threw the ball in the net at Palace, and while he made some great saves for us was far too prone to flapping at passing crosses without getting anywhere near them.

He’d get decidedly stressed if closed down quickly as well. He was alright. A step up from Maty Ryan, not as good as I believe Bart’s going to be, and either unwilling or incapable of adapting his style of play to suit what the head coach wanted.

He was moved on and quite rightly so, it’s baffling that we’re still talking about him. If there is a point, then like Sanchez trying to punch away a cross, I’ve missed it.

Alright, fair enough, i did use the search button for myself and found a whole host of threads about Sanchez.

They go in a pattern. All the way up to Palace they are full of praise. Discussions about his ability to come did a cross being one of the best in the league. A long thread wondering which PL goalies are better with their feet than Sanchez, I think the conclusion was 2 definitely and people couldn't decide on Allison. Several threads taking about rumours of Chelsea's interest, and a pretty universal thought that we shouldn't sell him for any less than 50m.

And yes, some discussion of concentration issues at times and occasional mistakes made. Dwayne thought he was overrated, along with Ally Mac. Some thought a bit of competition would be good, although most thought we'd look back at this in 10 years and laugh that we would doubt him.

Then Palace happened, certainly a lot of angst thrown about but the majority were supportive. This post was typical of the sentiment:

2 points dropped by incompetent officials. Sanchez dropped a clanger today but all keepers get a few of those a season. He’ll wish it hadn’t been this match, but he’s a great keeper and will move on to next week, as do we all.

Then RDZ drops him, Steele comes in, then the Cup semi, then Everton, then Arsenal away and the discussing is all over the place, finally ending up here with a lot of revisionism and people changing their opinions on the guy. There was a time when you thought he a was "a great keeper", but now you've come on here to state the exact opposite.
 




Terry Butcher Tribute Act

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Aug 18, 2013
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Alright, fair enough, i did use the search button for myself and found a whole host of threads about Sanchez.

They go in a pattern. All the way up to Palace they are full of praise. Discussions about his ability to come did a cross being one of the best in the league. A long thread wondering which PL goalies are better with their feet than Sanchez, I think the conclusion was 2 definitely and people couldn't decide on Allison. Several threads taking about rumours of Chelsea's interest, and a pretty universal thought that we shouldn't sell him for any less than 50m.

And yes, some discussion of concentration issues at times and occasional mistakes made. Dwayne thought he was overrated, along with Ally Mac. Some thought a bit of competition would be good, although most thought we'd look back at this in 10 years and laugh that we would doubt him.

Then Palace happened, certainly a lot of angst thrown about but the majority were supportive. This post was typical of the sentiment:



Then RDZ drops him, Steele comes in, then the Cup semi, then Everton, then Arsenal away and the discussing is all over the place, finally ending up here with a lot of revisionism and people changing their opinions on the guy. There was a time when you thought he a was "a great keeper", but now you've come on here to state the exact opposite.
What about him already being relegated to the Chelsea bench, is that because of Palace?

Could have been a brilliant keeper. Isn't. And has a stinking attitude. End of story.
 


chickens

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Alright, fair enough, i did use the search button for myself and found a whole host of threads about Sanchez.

They go in a pattern. All the way up to Palace they are full of praise. Discussions about his ability to come did a cross being one of the best in the league. A long thread wondering which PL goalies are better with their feet than Sanchez, I think the conclusion was 2 definitely and people couldn't decide on Allison. Several threads taking about rumours of Chelsea's interest, and a pretty universal thought that we shouldn't sell him for any less than 50m.

And yes, some discussion of concentration issues at times and occasional mistakes made. Dwayne thought he was overrated, along with Ally Mac. Some thought a bit of competition would be good, although most thought we'd look back at this in 10 years and laugh that we would doubt him.

Then Palace happened, certainly a lot of angst thrown about but the majority were supportive. This post was typical of the sentiment:



Then RDZ drops him, Steele comes in, then the Cup semi, then Everton, then Arsenal away and the discussing is all over the place, finally ending up here with a lot of revisionism and people changing their opinions on the guy. There was a time when you thought he a was "a great keeper", but now you've come on here to state the exact opposite.

I have said more recently that he was alright, better than Ryan, worse than Bart, and at the point of writing my more positive comments about him I felt he could easily (and would) make the changes needed to adapt to what RDZ wanted from him. He:

a) either couldn’t or wouldn’t take on board what the new goalkeeping coach was asking him to do.

and

b) refused to take a seat on the bench when one of his teammates did take on board what was being asked by the GK coach, and was played ahead of him. We hadn’t stopped paying him, and football is a team sport.

Those are the reasons why my view on him changed, I suspect I’m not alone in revising my opinion of him at the point of his unprofessional reaction to being dropped.

It certainly wasn’t a mistake to move him on, he had proven himself either unwilling or incapable of playing in the manner required, and it doesn’t really matter which.

Delighted he’s gone, not a mistake to let him go.
 


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