Chelsea: Kepa Arrizabalaga needs someone to challenge him as #1

Kepa Arrizabalaga is Chelsea’s undisputed starting goalkeeper. That may provide him a bit too much comfort, where some competition along with coaching would ensure the record signing reaches his full potential.

Frank Lampard’s merit-based policy has ensured that only those players who earn and deserve a place in the starting XI or matchday squad get them, whether they are young or old. This has solved two problems that have plagued Chelsea for almost a decade: youth integration and healthy squad competition. Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have been the faces of Lampard’s young Chelsea, while Christian Pulisic and Emerson have enjoyed the benefits of intra-squad competition.

Almost every Chelsea player in and around the squad has improved significantly compared to last season, except for Chelsea’s record signing, Kepa Arrizabalaga.

In his first season, Arrizabalaga showed plenty of flashes of world-class potential. Saves against Arsenal (e.g.,Laurent Koscielny’s header) and Watford (Troy Deeney’s header) displayed his spectacular reactions. In the Europa League semifinals against Eintracht Frankfurt, he stepped up to become Chelsea’s penalty shootout hero. But for all of his reactions and shot-stopping ability, there were some glaring shortcomings in his game.

Goalkeepers are primarily required to be quick and physically imposing to win 50-50’s against forwards, both on ground and in the air. These requirements are compounded in the Premier League, and Arrizabalaga struggled to keep up with the most physically demanding league in the world. He never looked comfortable dealing with aerial balls, often hesitating and staying on the goal line instead of collecting or punching crosses out of harm’s way. This started to make Chelsea look vulnerable from set-pieces.

Arrizabalaga also was billed as a technically sound goalkeeper, someone who would be comfortable in a system that required building up play from the back. That was the particular criterion Maurizio Sarri emphasized in selecting his goalkeepers. Whilst not bad at it, Arrizabalaga was very average with the ball at his feet and the distribution that followed, at times finding himself at sticky situations due to his sloppiness. His ball-playing ability did not seem like enough of an upgrade from his predecessor, Thibaut Courtois, to ignore the physical disadvantage he brought to the team.

Finally, the most underestimated duties of a goalkeeper are communicating with, guiding and organizing the defence. A goalkeeper has the complete view of a match and is best placed to make important observations. He can see the positions and movements of both his teammates and opponents, and can identify any dangerous blind spot. He can then either communicate that blind spot to the appropriate teammate or cover for him.

During set-pieces, more often than not the goalkeeper has to be actively involved in the action and deal with crosses, rather than fix himself to the line. During these moments, the goalkeeper commands the box, superseding any tactics. He needs to rely on his gut to win the 50-50 moments.

Arrizabalaga has not been vocal or decisive enough, which harmed Chelsea on multiple occasions. Yet he certainly can be expressive when he wants to be. Just ask Maurizio Sarri.

These trends have been ever-present this season as well, which is only natural. Such problems cannot be fixed with just one season. There was, however, the expectation that Arrizabalaga would improve at least somewhat in each aspect of his game, but so far that has not been visible.

The prime example of this would be Quincy Promes’ goal for Ajax. Taking nothing away from Hakim Ziyech’s fabulous delivery, that ball should never have reached Promes. Arrizabalaga should have either communicated to Cesar Azpilicueta that Promes has crept in behind him, or dealt with the cross himself, as it was well within his reach. He hesitated and did neither, leading to an easily avoidable goal.

Instead of building on a good first year with some improvements, Arrizabalaga has stagnated. Frank Lampard seems to have noticed this, with reports Lampard wants to add Shay Given to his coaching staff to help Arrizabalaga in his development. While this might help to an extent, the most effective way to help Arrizabalaga would be to give him some real competition.

With no disrespect towards Willy Caballero, Arrizabalaga has the status of an undisputed starter for Chelsea due to his age, ability and price tag, which means he can take things for granted at times. By bringing in a top quality, hungry goalkeeper, Arrizabalaga would be reminded that he cannot rest on his laurels. He would have a legitimate threat breathing down his neck, pushing him to perform consistently.

The club could bring in a keeper with a slightly different skill set to give Lampard some tactical flexibility. If Arrizabalaga were to see his teammate shine in certain aspects like dealing with crosses in training or matches, he would be driven to improve his own game to stay ahead in the pecking order.

Arrizabalaga has been good for his still-short Chelsea career, but not great, and that is not enough return on a £70 million investment.

While it may seem ridiculous to spend again on a goalkeeper, it is necessary to help improve the team and most importantly, push Kepa Arrizabalaga to reach his maximum potential.