Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has praised Chelsea’s “huge” goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
The Senegalese forward was in top form on Saturday as the Blues passed Brentford.
He made numerous saves to keep a clean sheet and lead Thomas Tuchel’s men to a 1-0 victory at Brentford Community Stadium.
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Looking back on Chelsea’s victory over their Youtube ChannelFerdinand said: “Mendy was unreal. It must be one of the signings from last season.
“I thank Frank Lampard for signing him because it was a great thing. But what an achievement!
“A goalkeeper who will inspire confidence in the defense. You look back and say, ‘Yes, my husband is protecting us, don’t worry! They are breaking us, he is here and they have to go through a wall «.
The 30-player Ballon d’Or roster was revealed last week, with Chelsea Champions League-winning stars César Azpilicueta, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount and Jorginho all included.
But Mendy, the first African goalkeeper to win the trophy, was not, and Euro 2020 winner Gianluigi Donnarumma was the only goalkeeper nominated for the award.
When asked if he thought Mendy’s omission was a surprise, Ferdinand replied, ‘Yes, I do.
“I think Mendy is being overlooked. His performance, the amount of clean sheets he’s had… no one has had more clean sheets in the Premier League since Thomas Tuchel arrived.
«It has been incredible. Every game that I’ve seen live, and every game that I’ve seen on television, has done something to the game that makes me think, ‘That’s why they bought it.
«He can be calm the whole game and then he only makes that stop and that is concentration. They are the best goalkeepers.
Elsewhere, Tuchel thinks Romelu Lukaku is ‘mentally tired’ because he played football too much.
He made a good start at Stamford Bridge and also scored a double against Aston Villa before scoring against Zenit in the Champions League.
However, his header against Zenit on September 14 is his most recent goal as he has gone through the club’s last six games without scoring.
Before Chelsea’s Champions League match against Malmo on Wednesday, Tuchel was asked if his players were still adjusting to having Lukaku on the squad.
“At the time when I think Romelu has exaggerated, I think he played in too many leagues last summer, too much with the national team and now he’s playing in the Nations League,” Tuchel said.
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