From among the familiar chants echoing from Chelsea protesters outside Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night came one man’s alteration on a classic.
As those around him sang for a general restoration of former glories, the lone voice chipped in with a more specific request: “We want Petrovic back!”
It has been a good few weeks for Djordje Petrovic and not only because he has kept three clean sheets in a row for Strasbourg, where he is on a season-long loan.
As Chelsea’s goalkeeping woes have drifted away from being a uniquely Robert Sanchez problem and seemingly toward something more systemic, the stock of the man who finished last season as Mauricio Pochettino’s No1 has risen.
A graphic shown on Sky Sports earlier this week showed Petrovic outperforming both Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen on a number of key metrics - most notably expected goals prevented and errors leading to chances and goals - and there are a decent number of Chelsea fans who would have supported his recall from Ligue 1 in January.
There again, there are plenty - including this correspondent - who backed Enzo Maresca’s decision to make Jorgensen his new Premier League ‘keeper at the start of this month, the switch coming on transfer deadline day against West Ham and not a minute too soon.
That, though, was more a vote against Sanchez than in favour of his young deputy, with the Spaniard’s position having become almost untenable on the back of a series of high-profile mistakes. Five had led directly to goals in the league this term.
Jorgensen, who showed promise in a good run of European performances in the first-half of the campaign, has since followed Sanchez’s lead, costing his side a point with an outright clanger for Marco Asensio’s winning goal at Aston Villa last weekend. The curse of incumbency did not take long to strike.
Like it or not, Chelsea must rely on Sanchez and Jorgensen from here on in. Neither, on the season’s evidence, are up to standard for a club eyeing a Champions League return, though at 22, Jorgensen may yet get there.
In the immediate term, though, neither can possibly be being helped by the atmosphere at the Bridge. Not unreasonably, a tangible air of nervousness has accompanied Sanchez’s every involvement for most of the campaign but that has now become something more potent, irrespective of who is wearing the orange shirt.
In the nervy first half-hour of Tuesday’s eventually comfortable 4-0 thrashing of Southampton, a bizarre stand-off ensued between Jorgensen and a vocal section of the Matthew Harding Stand behind his goal. What began as groans soon morphed into jeers as the goalkeeper repeatedly delayed his use of the ball in vain attempt to coax Southampton’s press and played short under what, Maresca confirmed afterwards, were manager’s orders.
“My message to Filip was: ‘If you play long ball, I will change you’,” Maresca said at full-time. “So, he was just doing what I said to him.”
The Italian said something similar in defence of Sanchez back in October, but appears on philosophical collision course with a home crowd who want to see their team playing with more urgency. It cannot be easy, though, for either goalkeeper to stick to one man’s brief when thousands of others are baying for something else.
“It's difficult for Filip, it's difficult for Robert when he was playing,” Maresca agreed. “I think it's difficult for all the keepers. But they are just following the plan.”
His goalkeeper’s may be signed up to it - but many Chelsea supporters remain unconvinced.
