A year of Robert Sanchez: Analysing the Brighton keeper's aggressive style and huge potential (2024)

Two moments in Brighton’s 2-2 comeback draw against Liverpool at Anfield showed the risks and rewards with Robert Sanchez.

In the team’s build-up, Sanchez takes up the position at the base of the defence as the first “attacker” out of the back, similar to what you would expect from the central defender in a back three.

This helps the goalkeeper create more passing options for his team-mates. It allows the centre-backs to split out wide and the wing-backs to advance past the first line of pressure and into midfield, creating a positional advantage over the opponent and more solutions in build-up play.

Pep Guardiola said after Manchester City’s 4-1 victory in Brighton’s last home game: “They know exactly what to do. They make the build-up with a good goalkeeper.”

Brighton didn’t back down from their principals and continued to play aggressively out of the back, despite playing against one of the top defensive pressing teams in the league.

In the third minute of the game, with Brighton under immediate pressure from City, Sanchez and his team-mates set the foundation for the way they approached the task.

Despite being under pressure from City’s front three of Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish, they put together an impressive string of passes to bypass the initial line of pressure.

With Foden closing down Sanchez, his first pass is a short ball to the left to Dan Burn.

Almost instantly, as Foden changes the direction of his press, Burn takes one touch away from the defensive pressure and sends the ball back to Sanchez.

At this moment, no one would fault Sanchez if he had switched the play and gone across the field to Lewis Dunk. It would have been the safe pass to try to open up space — you can even see Pascal Gross in the middle of the field with his left hand pointing to the right side of the field for the switch.

But that’s not what Sanchez does. Rather than play the safe ball, he waits for Foden to close him down and sends a splitting ball back across his body towards left-back Cucurella.

After a quick interchange of passes, Brighton successfully break the first line of pressure, bypass four City players and allow Adam Lallana to attack.

Brave feet

It’s worth looking at one more example to underline just how confident and brave Sanchez is with the ball at his feet.

With Brighton 3-0 down, his perfectly weighted pass up the middle to Lallana helped them break the first line of pressure and jumpstart an attack.

There are two important variables when playing out of the back for the goalkeeper: the options that the outfield players are giving him (where they are supposed to be and when) and the goalkeeper’s decision-making process (assessing the situation in front of them).

With the ball at Sanchez’s feet, you can see Lallana with his hands in front of his chest gesturing that he wants the ball after his goalkeeper has brought it forward.

The moment Sanchez brings it forward, that is Lallana’s signal to drop into position behind the first line of pressure as quickly as possible.

After moving his first touch in front of him, Sanchez sends a perfectly weighted pass to Lallana, between the two pressing players from City.

It might appear to be a risky ball but this is precisely the type of pass Potter wants and needs his goalkeeper to make consistently.

In the blink of an eye, Lallana finds himself in space after a quick turn and, following a speedy pass to Cucurella on the wing (who is just out of frame), Brighton once again find themselves in an advantageous attacking position against City.

Sanchez’s statistics for the match indicate how much he gets on the ball and just how impactful he has been for Brighton.

In total, he completed 58 passes with a pass completion percentage of 85 per cent. A stellar feat in any match, even more so against the defending champions.

58/68 – Robert Sánchez attempted 68 passes against Manchester City yesterday, finding a teammate with 58 of them. Since full game-by-game pass data is available for the Premier League (2003-04), both figures are record highs for a goalkeeper in the competition. Rush. pic.twitter.com/DzCujDutUI

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 24, 2021

Pass master

Although most of Sanchez’s passes are shorter ones, it’s his mid-to-long-range passing and ability to switch the play at a moment’s notice that make him stand out.

It is not enough to just have good feet — as one of Potter’s goalkeepers, you must also have intelligence and sound judgment.

In this clip from the first half against City, Sanchez’s accurate, one-touch, cross-field ball to left-sided centre-back Burn eliminated three players from the visitors’ press.

This cross-field pass allowed Burn to receive the ball with several metres of space in front of him to turn, comfortably break the pressure and attack City in an area of the field where they were vulnerable.

Brighton went from having a two-v-three disadvantage on one side of the field to a four-v-two advantage on the opposite side due to one single pass.

There are very few goalkeepers in the Premier League who can hit these types of cross-field balls as accurately and consistently as Sanchez.

Later in the first half, Sanchez was again precise with his cross-field passing, skipping five City players in the process. This time it was the trajectory and pace of his pass that made the outcome of this play possible.

Due to Sanchez’s effective pass, Jakub Moder had so much time on the ball that he was able to take his first touch with his right foot, do a full turn and take the ball upfield before there was any pressure on the ball.

Long-ball accuracy

The problem for opposing teams is that Brighton aren’t just one of the best possession-based and build-up teams in the league, they are also one of the most efficient long-ball playing teams in the league.

The ability to play long balls accurately is an underrated trait we often don’t talk about that much with goalkeepers. It is far more common to hear about passing ability in tight areas but it is actually the accurate long balls (sometimes even just the threat of them being played) that puts pressure on the opposition, sparks fear and hesitation in the defenders, and opens up spaces short for the goalkeeper to pass into.

In the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace at the end of September, it was Sanchez’s ability to hit long and accurate balls to his forwards that caused problems. In the first half, Sanchez’s near-75-yard ball bypassed 10 defensive players and set up a chance for Danny Welbeck.

Midway through the second half, another long ball from Sanchez led to a chance. This time, it was a side volley that split the Palace defence and found Moder free in the final third.

The margins on this ball were extremely slim and Sanchez hit it about as perfectly as you could.

For opposing teams to adapt to Brighton’s long-ball threat, one of two things are likely to happen: the defending side will have everyone sit back deeper, or bring extra players back as additional cover to help against the attacking players in their own half.

The issue that arises with each tactic is that the defending team inadvertently creates the desired space and favourable numbers that Brighton crave to play out of their own half and build up their possession game. It is quite a conundrum for opponents.

Aerial command

Sanchez’s confidence is also evident in how he handles long, lofted balls deep into his box. A goalkeeper’s size and reach (both of which Sanchez has at 6ft 6in) can give them an advantage when dealing with high balls, but more important than any physical trait is their positioning.

Proper positioning allows the goalkeeper to extend their range and minimise the distance between them and their defenders, which crucially helps clarify the decision of when to come versus when to stay closer to your line. It also helps with your timing and being able to attack the ball at its highest point.

Sanchez has great hands, exceptional footwork and timing, and unwavering bravery when balls are pumped into his box.

The numbers back up just how good he has been. He leads the Premier League this season in rate of crosses stopped (19 per cent), total crosses stopped (15 from 79 chances, already four more than the whole of last season) and high claims with 27 (Southampton’s Alex McCarthy has the second most with 16).

Although these statistics alone (high claims in particular) do not always tell the entire story about a player’s capabilities — considering the way a team plays and defends can impact how active they are required to be — the fact that he leads all three categories and has 11 more high claims compared to the next best goalkeeper in the league is significant and paints a clear picture about just how effective Sanchez has been.

A huge reason for his success stems from his aggressive starting position in open play and in set-piece situations, which helps him own the space that eventually leads to shots.

Because of the way Brighton set up — they often hold possession for long periods of the game and commit several players into the attack — their goalkeeper needs to play a high line, think proactively (one or two steps ahead of the play) and be able to snuff out attacks from the opposition, rather than reacting and playing catch-up to the players in front of him.

Potter doesn’t just value his possession-based system due to the attacking principles, they are also a core part of his defending concept at Brighton.

Even when Brighton don’t have the ball, Sanchez’s aggressive positioning is key to the ideals. Potter has convinced his players that if they can keep a high line and relentlessly press the opposition, then they have someone to protect behind them.

Additionally, his high line gives confidence to the defence because they know that any pass in and around the box belongs to him. They can trust their own decisions more, knowing that in the worst-case scenario, Sanchez is there to clean up the danger.

Here are a few examples of Sanchez leaving his line and challenging to win the ball, often amid a mix of team-mates and opposing players.

Pay particular attention to how far he is off his line when he claims each ball. It’s not uncommon to see a goalkeeper come and challenge for balls around their six-yard box but to see a goalkeeper consistently challenge for balls at (or even sometimes well past) his penalty spot is extraordinary. It is down to Sanchez’s high starting position.

Here he is making a tough catch in the 0-0 draw at Norwich.

And here Sanchez is in the same match, catching the ball at its highest point despite pressure from two attacking players.

In this next image, taken from Brighton’s 2-1 win at Burnley on the opening day of the season, Sanchez makes a confident claim beyond his penalty spot, this time to secure three vital points.

Here is Sanchez (below) claiming an outswinging corner kick from Liverpool last season to preserve the victory at Anfield.

And here he is against Burnley last season, jumping up and over a sea of players to make an extraordinary claim near the edge of his box.

Making mistakes

This type of aggressive play doesn’t come without its drawbacks, however. Leaving your line and launching yourself into crowds of people the way Sanchez does will naturally lead to mistakes and miscalculations from time to time.

Last season against Leicester, Sanchez was punished when he rushed forward to attack an inswinging corner from Marc Albrighton and mistimed his punch, leading to a free header at the back post for Daniel Amartey to win the game.

In the Burnley game this season, Sanchez again rushed forward and got his timing all wrong, resulting in a missed punch and a free header at the back post that, fortunately, hit the crossbar.

Even though it wasn’t a crossing situation, the same can be said of Sanchez mishandling a high claim that led to Manchester City’s opener last month (below). The timing was correct on this occasion but his execution was just a little off.

Against City, Gabriel Jesus’ physical, perfectly timed challenge also made it more difficult, generating enough contact to throw off the goalkeeper’s balance and interrupt his catch when he is exposed and vulnerable, resulting in a dropped ball and a goal for City.

Overall, Sanchez’s aggressiveness in crossing situations has been a huge asset to the goalkeeper and his team-mates, despite him occasionally getting things wrong.

Positioning

In addition to the more modern skill set, Sanchez is also a very good goalkeeper in the traditional sense.

His body shape and set position, in particular, are superb and serve as the foundations for the rest of his attributes.

His positional awareness and technical efficiency — mainly regarding his footwork — mean he doesn’t need to make any wild movements or technical adjustments as he traverses his goalmouth in preparation for each shot on target.

By the time the ball is struck, he is already in the optimal position, and has his body and hands are in the correct shape to make a save.

Here’s an example from the game against Spurs last season.

At his very best, it is his agility and reflexes — specifically in the tightest areas — that really shine.

Although it is a goalkeeper’s footwork that gets them from point A to point B to save shots further away from the goal, it is a keeper’s ability to change direction quickly that helps them make small adjustments to shots in the box at a moment’s notice.

Sanchez does the latter extremely well by keeping his footsteps small and almost in continuous contact with the ground, giving him a strong centre of balance and allowing him to react and adjust in any direction.

Combined with a quick first step off his line, Sanchez’s agility also makes him difficult to beat in one-v-one situations. His quick and direct movements help him shoot his limbs toward the ball at an alarming speed.

When the striker is free and clear on goal, the Brighton goalkeeper remains patient, keeping his chest/body square to the ball and holding his ground, staying as big as possible up until the last moment before the shot.

In the time it takes for the striker to put his head down to shoot, Sanchez closes the space between them and limits even the most narrow angles past him to the net.

He did just that against Foden in the game against Manchester City…

And also against Palace’s Wilfried Zaha…

Monster potential

After a man of the match performance against Burnley to extend Brighton’s unbeaten run to five matches last season, Potter was quick to highlight Sanchez’s quality.

“Robert is a monster in terms of his physicality,” Potter said. “He’s not just big but powerful too. He has everything to be a top goalkeeper.”

At 23, Sanchez is challenging what we thought was possible from a goalkeeper at such a young age.

As he furthers his craft in future seasons, it is conceivable that he will continue to develop his game. Potter’s claim that Sanchez could go on to play for “pretty much any football club in the world” may well become a reality.