KEPA: REBELLION TO REDEMPTION
£71.6M Arrizabalaga is still best known for his refusal to be subbed at Wembley in Chelsea’s League Cup final defeat to City... now he has a chance to make up for that nightmare
KEPA ARRIZABALAGA is still best remembered for what happened in the 2019 Carabao Cup final.
That is why the FA Cup offers the chance for redemption in what will be Kepa’s first Wembley final appearance since that nightmare afternoon.
The keeper infuriated Maurizio Sarri by refusing to be substituted during extra time when the former Chelsea boss wanted to bring on reserve Willy Caballero for the penalty shoot-out against Manchester City. It was an unforgettable meltdown which stole all of the headlines, especially as City went on to win the trophy.
Since then Kepa has struggled to live down that mad moment at Wembley – but Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has said publicly that the Spaniard will start against Leicester City ahead of Edouard Mendy.
His warm-up against Arsenal on Wednesday night may not fill fans with confidence after a terrible mix-up with Jorginho led to Emile Smith Rowe scoring the winner, although majority of the blame with the midfielder.
But the tough times continue for Kepa, who has failed to justify the staggering £71.6million fee paid to Athletic Bilbao in 2018.
The Blues saw him as their No.1 keeper for the next decade and believed he had all the attributes to be the best in the world. It has not played out like that.
He is a good shot stopper but sometimes looks as if he lacks the confidence to command his penalty box, while his distribution has led to some pretty embarrassing the lay
mistakes – most notably at Brighton on the opening weekend of this season.
A poor kick also let in Sadio Mane when Liverpool won at Stamford Bridge, and the blame was again put at Kepa’s door.
Mendy was brought in and replaced him but Chelsea were still not prepared to give up on their investment.
The reluctance of Tuchel’s predecessor, Frank Lampard, to persevere with Kepa was seen as a failing on the manager’s part rather than the keeper.
That shows that the club still believes in him, even though Mendy has become the regular No.1.
Kepa was on the bench when Chelsea lost the FA Cup final to Arsenal last year.
Tomorrow’s Wembley showpiece is a fresh chance for him – and he simply has to take it.
Clearly Tuchel, who has got very little wrong since taking charge in January, has seen enough to make him believe he should start.
And if 26-year-old Kepa can repay his manager’s faith in his abilities then he may just be able to step out of the shadow of what happened two years ago.