Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville (Picture: Getty) Gary Neville believes Robert Sanchez ‘undermines’ Chelsea and should be replaced by new Stamford Bridge boss Xabi Alonso. Sanchez made yet another mistake in Chelsea’s Premier League opener against Fulham on Monday night. The Blues looked in control after Joao Pedro broke the deadlock inside a minute at Craven Cottage, but Sanchez’s error gifted Fulham’s Josh King an equaliser. Sanchez also received criticism for his part in Fulham’s second, scored by Gonzalo Garcia, but the Spaniard’s unconvincing performance did not ultimately cost Chelsea, who ran out 3-2 winners thanks to goals from £117m summer signing Morgan Rogers and the sensational Cole Palmer. Exclusive Premier League previews Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free. Neville has high hopes for Chelsea this season, insisting they could emerge as Arsenal’s biggest rivals for the title, but believes it is imperative that Sanchez is replaced in goal. ‘For the first time in a while I really like the spine of Chelsea’s team,’ Neville said on Sky Sports before the game. ‘The goalkeeper could maybe be upgraded but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.’ Analysing Fulham’s equaliser at half-time, Neville added: ‘Chelsea were in a really good shape, showing respect to Fulham. Chelsea No. 1 Robert Sanchez (Picture: Getty) ‘Xabi Alonso will be thinking, “how have we conceded from here?”. We’ve got to be careful about criticising goalkeepers and any players really. ‘But Robert Sanchez does undermine Chelsea’s position. He makes a lot of errors and it just can’t happen that, it can’t happen. ‘It will undermine everything Chelsea do. It’s a problem for Chelsea and I don’t think if Emi Martinez is available, but they need someone like that.’ {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Alonso puts focus on Chelsea attack after 3-2 win over Fulham","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/08\/25\/8750973078746476915\/480x270_MP4_8750973078746476915.mp4","description":"Xabi Alonso called on his attacking trio of Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro to lead and inspire Chelsea this season after their goals helped begin his tenure began with a 3-2 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage.","duration":"T6M8S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/08\/25\/07\/110833415-0-image-a-1_1787638549134.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-08-25T07:15:36+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); Chelsea beat Fulham in their Premier League opener (Picture: Getty) Arsenal legend Alan Smith, meanwhile, suggested Alonso could put pressure on the Chelsea board to sign a new goalkeeper after Sanchez’s performance against Fulham. Reacting to Fulham’s first goal, Smith said on Sky Sports: ‘Sanchez has got to stop it. You shouldn’t be scoring from there, he probably didn’t even expect to score from there. ‘He’s looked nervous from the off. Dear oh dear. It will be interesting to see if Chelsea make a move for a new goalkeeper, this might nudge them in that direction because it’s a shocker from Robert Sanchez.’ Xabi Alonso during Chelsea’s win at Fulham (Picture: Getty) After Garcia scored Fulham’s second, Smith added: ‘It’s another blunder from the goalkeeper,
