SERIE A
Guillermo Ochoa no longer in the Salernitana first team; Luigi Sepe wins the battle
The competition between the two goalkeepers is extremely even in the fight to be Salernitana’s number one.
Guillermo Ochoa’s time in Europe has not been an easy ride. Although the Mexican goalkeeper has been a key figure in various matches due to the number of shots he has received, but the truth is that he has not managed to make the leap to a ‘great club’ in Europe. With Salernitana, the team he joined in January of this year, he is no longer assured of featuring in the first team, as Luigi Sepe is already 100% physically fit and the Italian was the starter in the last game against Salerno.
After not renewing with América, Ochoa packed his bags with a ticket to Italy to sign with Salernitana. The team needed a goalkeeper due to Luigi Sepe’s injury and saw ‘Memo’ as a solid option since he was a player with World Cup experience, a free agent and, above all, an EU passport.
Despite the poor results and the frankly scandalous defeat that Atalanta handed out in the league, Ochoa was chosen as the club’s MVP in January which pointed to him staying in goal despite the fact that Sepe was already in the final stages of his recovery.
Ochoa loses his place in the first team
However, things did not turn out in that way and a week after receiving the award for player of the month, Guillermo Ochoa was dropped to the bench to make way for Luigi Sepe. The team’s manager at the time, Davide Nicola, decided to respect Sepe’s position in the squad, who was the number one choice for Salernitana until his injury, leaving the Mexican goalkeeper in limbo.
Despite the change in the goal, it did not change the number of points as Salernitana lost again. Before that, the board of directors decided to dismiss Davide Nicola and put Paulo Sousa in as new coach. Perhaps now all goalkeepers will have an equal chance to fight for the single position.
The comparison between Guillermo Ochoa and Luigi Sepe
According to Be Soccer, Luigi Sepe has better numbers than Ochoa. Both goalkeepers were compared during their time with Salernitana, taking into account that Ochoa has played six games in Serie A and Sepe has 17. The comparative values are per 90 minutes.
Of the 12 points in which they were compared, Ochoa won only in two: per game, ‘Memo’ has 4 saves over Sepe’s 3, while in saves per goals conceded Ochoa has 1.7 to Sepe’s 2.2 per game. In saved penalties, Ochoa records more with one save every five. It is worth mentioning that the former América goalkeeper receives more shots per game with 7, compared to the Italian’s 4.
For his part, Luigi Sepe’s effectiveness of saves per shots received is better than Ochoa with 68.6% compared to 63.
Likewise, Ochoa has not been able to keep a clean sheet, a situation that Sepe has already achieved on more than one occasion. Finally, in headed goals conceded and from distance, 'Memo' loses by the slightest difference against the 31-year-old goalkeeper.
Beyond the numbers, the decision on who will start in the game against Lazio on Sunday will rest with the new Salernitana manager, although in Italy there is talk of that Ochoa could return to the starting lineup.
