SARRI’S THREAT TO DROP KEEPER
Sarri says keeper made big mistake but ‘don’t destroy him’ Chelsea boss insists Wembley fiasco reinforced his authority
MAURIZIO SARRI has threatened to axe Kepa Arrizabalaga for tonight’s grudge match against Tottenham. The world’s most expensive goalkeeper (below) refused to be substituted late in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final defeat by Manchester City. The £72million star has been fined a week’s wages — believed to be £100,000 — and could be left out of tonight’s starting XI. ‘Maybe yes, maybe no,’ said Sarri when asked if he planned to start Kepa. ‘I want to send a message to my group. ‘The message could be Kepa is on the pitch, or Kepa is off the pitch. I have to decide what is better for my group. ‘He made a big mistake but we need to be tolerant. We don’t want to kill him.’ Sarri hurled a water bottle during the incident but will not face FA punishment.
WHEN he finally sweeps away the clouds of misunderstanding which arose from Kepa Arrizabalaga’s refusal to be substituted at Wembley, Maurizio Sarri will recognise the features of a more familiar problem.
Sarri is tonight back at Stamford Bridge, where the home crowd has been in mutinous mood during the last two games, to face Tottenham, the team responsible for damaging Chelsea’s confidence so badly in November.
And he will engage once again in his personal fight to convince everyone at the club — from the fans, through the dressing room to the board. That he has it all under control, that shutting out Manchester City and losing the Carabao Cup final only on penalties represents significant progress and may trigger consistent form.
That he remains the man for the job, has the respect of his players and can still conjure a way to qualify for the Champions League.
It didn’t seem that way on Sunday when the Kepa episode reached its farcical peak and a raging Sarri ripped open his tracksuit top, hurled a water bottle at his seat and stormed towards the tunnel.
But, on the eve of the Spurs game, the Chelsea manager claimed the issue had strengthened his authority and was threatening to drop the world’s most expensive goalkeeper. ‘Maybe yes, maybe no,’ said Sarri, when asked if he planned to start Kepa, signed last year for £72million from Athletic Bilbao. ‘I want to send a message to my group. The message could be Kepa is on the pitch, or Kepa is off the pitch.’
While keen to reinforce the authority which escaped him on the Wembley touchline, Sarri was eager to stress that no good would come from destroying a 24-year-old in whom Chelsea have invested so much.
‘He made a big mistake but we need to be tolerant,’ said the manager. ‘We don’t want to kill him.’
Kepa’s show of contrition and formal apology have helped restore calm. Sarri confirmed the keeper had apologised to his team-mates and to the coaching and technical staff on Monday.
He said he had spoken to director Marina Granovskaia on the matter and that the board had made a decision to fine the player one week’s wages, thought to be around £100,000.
Sarri backed his captain, Cesar Azpilicueta, who came in for criticism for failing to step in and resolve the flashpoint.
‘ The captain spoke to me immediately after the match,’ he said. ‘Then he spoke with Kepa. Yesterday, we spoke all together. The situation is really very clear in the dressing room.’
And he offered support to Willy Caballero, the 37-year-old back-up goalkeeper who was furious to be left embarrassed by a team-mate as he stood on the touchline, primed to come on and face City’s penalties on Sunday.
‘Willy Caballero is a great man,’ said Sarri. ‘He is a point of reference in the dressing room for his personality, for his behaviour, for everything. So I think that he has the maturity to be ready for everything.’
With this, the public face of the clean- up operation was complete and attention turns to the reaction of the team against Tottenham.
How will a notoriously fickle squad respond? And what of the supporters who seemed to sympathise at Wembley with a manager who has been heavily criticised since crushing Premier League defeats by Bournemouth and Manchester City?
Chelsea fans sang abusively about Sarriball during the FA Cup defeat by Manchester United and jeered the introduction of Jorginho from the bench in the Europa League against Malmo. Jorginho, signed for £57m from Napoli last year and identified as the key to ‘Sarriball’, did little to improve his popularity by missing the first penalty of the Wembley shootout, and it will be interesting to see what sort of reception is reserved for Kepa if he plays.
‘I can understand the fans, of course,’ said Sarri as he urged them to create a positive atmosphere. ‘I can understand because they are used to winning. I’d like to see more support for my players, not for me.’
And can they avoid defeat against Spurs, who have played once during a period when Chelsea have played four times, lost a cup final and descended into emotional turmoil?