Djordje Petrovic: Appreciation Article

He deserve massive credit for his impact on the team!

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gents,

Today I just want to shout some praise and plaudits to Djordje Petrovic.

This is the 3rd one of these I have done in the last 6 weeks or so, after both Malo gusto & Axel Disasi.

Petrovic has been in excellent form since Rob Sanchez got injured in mid-December and has undoubtedly made himself our No1. There have been the usual over-exaggerative statements like “The Next Petr Cech” etc. etc. which is a step too far at this stage. Petrovic has been superb and clearly has lots of potential but lets reserve those claims for a little while.

The thing that impressed me the most from the outset was his composure with his decision making, he is better than Sanchez at playing out from the back, but equally is miles clear in decision making with the ball and knowing when he has to punt the ball long to relieve some pressure/danger from our defence.

He has a 70.2% save percentage in the PL this season, which is only bettered by Pickford, Onana, Leno, Alisson and Areola. All of which are having good seasons.

He is in the top 10% of Goalkeepers across Europe for Shots on Target against, Saves and Average distance from goal a defensive action is made (sweeper keeper).

When he came in he was a completely unknown quantity and many of us had no idea what to expect. He has certainly pleasantly surprised me and I would imagine he has pleasantly surprised a lot of you!

The big question I have is does he have the ability/potential to be our long term No1?

We have won as many games with him in the team as we have Sanchez, in 6 less PL games, we have only lost 3 PL games since he came into the team.

He fills me with confidence and I am sure that he fills his defenders with more confidence than Sanchez, even with just his distribution as well as everything else he offers!

Thank you all for reading, please give me your thoughts.

Luke Rushbrook