Chelsea’s previous Premier League game saw them draw 2-2 with Leicester at the King Power Stadium, now cementing three games without a victory for the dark blue.
However, Frank Lampard’s starting lineup was perhaps one of the main talking points in the last week, having sensationally dropped shot stopper Kepa Arrizabalaga from the starting 11.
The move saw Argentine Willy Caballero slot into the vacant goalkeeping position and to be perfectly honest, was lacklustre in just his 6th appearance since 2017 for the North Londoners. Having been caught scathingly out of position for Ben Chilwell’s Goal to make it 2-1 to Leicester, Caballero’s performance will certainly not be one to make the highlight reel for the 38-year-old.
Goalkeeping - perhaps the most vital position in football, has now placed Chelsea in a state of discomfort given the poor season Arrizabalaga has displayed. Statistics showcase he is the at the bottom of save percentage in the league having only kept out just 56% of shots faced and just five clean sheets from 24 league games.
On the 8th of August 2018 Spanish club Atheleitco Bilbao announced the departure of Arrizabalaga for an estimated £71 million making him the most expensive goalkeeper at the time.
Transfers that feature high figures such as this bring a sense of performance, pressure and responsibility. This season it seems Arrizabalaga has failed to meet expectations ,and now, Chelsea have a dire situation at their hands to put it bluntly.
The £71 million player hasn’t performed to his price tag this season. Let’s not forget the incredible turn of events that saw him refuse to be substituted.
Furthermore, Lampard in defence of his goalkeeper added:
“I am not affected by criticism from the outside as much. I am aware of it, not affected by it.
It is what I want for the team and I think with Kepa he knows, he’ll be honest that there have been some mistakes that have cost us goals.”
Reports have claimed Lampard is looking to offload Kepa come the end of the season and have Ajax’s Andre Onana and Burnley’s Nick Pope in the crosshairs as potential replacements.
Given the hefty transfer price Chelsea payed for the Spaniard, the release will certainly be seen as a failure nor profitable for Chelsea. Whether or not additional funds from Roman Abramovich are to be introduced to fix the woes remains unknown.
Kepa’s confidence will be rock bottom and with Willy Caballero’s poor tenure last week, it seems Kepa could potentially see himself back in the starting line up to face Manchester United on Monday, hoping for improvement.
