The media cannot let Kepa Arrizabalaga’s incident go and it seems Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri may not either. It is done and he must not be dropped.
Arrizabalaga refused to come off late into the League Cup. Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri was angry before talking to his medical staff. Everyone else was a bystander and after the match both Arrizabalaga and Sarri called the event a misunderstanding. Did it end there? Of course it did not.
Some fans (and Chris Sutton) never wanted Arrizabalaga to play for Chelsea again. Ultimately, the younger keeper apologized to Sarri, his teammates, and the staff and he was fined a week’s wages. Has it ended there? Of course not.
In the presser before the Tottenham match, Maurizio Sarri refused to say he would start the young Spanish keeper. The event has been called a misunderstanding. Arrizabalaga has apologized and has been fined. Anything further punishment risks far more than Arrizabalaga’s disrespect did just days ago. The Spanish keeper must start against Tottenham.
Sarri knows he needs to win the match to save himself. Some players believe he will be sacked with a loss and that is likely not too far off from the truth. So there is no good way for Sarri to bench his best keeper.
If Chelsea wins, no matter who is in goal, Sarri will be justified. But if the Blues lose, he likely only sees a backlash if Willy Caballero is the man between the sticks. Caballero is not bad but he is not as good as Arrizabalaga. Even Sarri knows this as evidenced by his preference for Arrizabalaga in the Europa League. There is nothing to lose by playing the Spanish keeper. But dropping him will put things under a microscope.
Furthermore, benching Arrizabalaga runs the risk of further fracturing the dressing room just as they have started to come together. Few reasonable players will buck at Arrizabalaga starting after his punishment. But it is likely that a few will if he is benched, especially if the Blues lose.
In fact, benching him will cause some in the dressing room to stand in support of him and some to stand in support of Sarri’s decision. Given how no player stood up for Sarri during the match (David Luiz tried to say he did after the fact), the chance of Sarri losing control is high.
A manager has to control his team but he also needs to know when enough is enough. Arrizabalaga is young and made a mistake. Everyone agreed it was a misunderstanding but he was still made to apologize and face a fine for the optics. And that is as far as things need to go right now.
It would show not only sense, but maturity for Arrizabalaga to play against Tottenham. The Spanish keeper can even show, publicly, that he backs Sarri in that match if he must. But that chance and many others will be gone if the young keeper is benched.
Sarri cannot risk the fallout from benching Arrizabalaga nor should he try to. Let cooler heads prevail and play the best possible line up against Tottenham. That means Arrizabalaga no matter what else has happened.