Robert Sanchez had mixed feelings after our 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace, but believes that the beautiful slate protected despite a few important absence showed the strength in this Chelsea team.
When the blues opened our campaign on Sunday afternoon on Stamford Bridge, it was probably not the back four in line for Sanchez that many had expected a little more than a month ago, when we ended up 2024/25 by winning the FIFA Club World Cup in the US.
Since then, however, Levi Colwill has been back two weeks ago for the preseason for the preseason, and a knock for Tosin Adarabioyo in the last few days also ruled him out of the fight for our first Premier League match.
In Trevoh Chalobah and Teen Josh Acheampong-De Last, only his third start made the competition found Enzo Maresca the center-back combination that could keep it firm to close the palace.
“We had a few weeks of free training for the season and we got a few injuries for very important players for us,” our keeper said.
'But I think the boys who have entered the team have appeared. Everyone is ready to play in this team, everyone has the quality and we have kept the clean slate. '
The absence of Colwill and Tosin was also expected to have an influence on the way in which Chelsea build the game from the back, but again, Sanchez believes that his defense performed well in that area, although it was the next step in our game where Palace caused us the most problems.
'We have quality on the ball and palace withheld, in midfield. So playing out was not difficult, from my opinion, but to find Moises [Caicedo] And so [Fernandez] In midfield was difficult, so we had to play a little more wide.
“But I think the boys did what they had to do, they created the opportunities, and with different margins we could have scored one or two goals.”
It was those fine margins, who are to be expected at this high level against a team that had just added the Community Shield to the FA Cup that they won last season, causing Sanchez to get away from our opening match of 2025/26 with mixed emotions about the result.
'It is a bit of both, happy and frustrated. I am happy because I think the team has created some opportunities, I think we played well and at the end of the day it was up to slender margins, “the Spaniard explained.
'But I am clearly a bit disappointed because it is not the result that we wanted. We wanted to start with a victory, we wanted to continue from the last few months we had, which was really good. It didn't happen, so we just have to concentrate and continue.
'We have admitted a few chances in which I think we could have been a little stronger in the 50-50s in the middle, that is something we should be careful with, but the boys created opportunities and we believe we could have scored a few.
'At the end of the day that is football. We will take the clean leaf, we will take the point and go to the next. '
That next match comes in less than a week, when our first travel journey of the season takes us over the capital for another derby, against West Ham United in the London Stadium on Friday evening.