Chelsea Tactics and Transfers: In defence of Kepa Arrizabalaga (he needs one)

Chelsea’s goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has not had a highlight-reel season, but he still remains a good goalkeeper with great potential.

For the first time since Roman Abramovich brought his fiery brand of excellence to Stamford Bridge, Chelsea fans were told to temper their expectations ahead of this season. That is not an easy request as the one thing fans want to see is their side win matches and trophies. There are other satisfactions to be had, though: style of play, youth integration and prudence in regards to principles.

It’s true there have been times this season where the side has been unlucky.  But there have been plenty more where their misfortune was the product of their own insolence and foolhardy nature. They seemingly never learn from their mistakes and seem more focused on the complicated and fluffy side of the game despite not mastering the basics yet. And that brings us right to Chelsea’s crestfallen goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Arrizabalaga’s reaction saves are mesmerizing and his ability to make saves as well with his feet as his hands is admirable. It is easy to forget the “knee-save” where his keen research combined with dexterity to save Chelsea in the shoot-out against Eintracht Frankfurt when the Blues were down 3-2. He has kept Chelsea in as many games as he has cost them with his recent mistakes, but that balance is easy to forget.

For years, Chelsea were spoiled by the quiet all-time excellence of Petr Cech. The Czech was the only player to remove Gianluigi Buffon in his prime from the perch of best goalkeeper in the world, and he did it for several years. Arrizabalaga in many ways resembles the Italian, and the Blues must endure with him.

What Gianluigi Buffon and Petr Cech had that Kepa Arrizabalaga does not is a proper defence and some continuity.

I have never seen a top flight football side defend as poorly as this Chelsea. It is, in it’s own sad sense, something to truly marvel at. Against Hull on Saturday I, like many of you, watched in true astonishment as Chelsea were not able to win a single first header from a corner.  An extremely motivated pub side would win at least one surely?

In his sophomore year with Chelsea, Arrizabalaga is already on his second manager. Cech at least had Mourinho for three years while Buffon had the same with Marcello Lippi.

To compound the issue, Frank Lampard seems entirely undecided on who is his best defence. They’ve played poorly, absolutely, but defenders should not be rotated without injury as often as they have been this season. The fifth defender in a four-man unit is the bond between them. Chelsea’s defence have no such thing.

David De Gea took at least three years to adapt to England. Arrizabalaga showed flashes of true brilliance much faster than his compatriot did and he’s only half way through the second year. At his age one would hope he would be further along, but you’d also hope that he was Lev Yashin. His struggles are understandable, but his sublime moments should not be buried under the weight of expectations.

He should sit and think and be forced to earn his way back into the side, perhaps over the course of a month, but he should not be forgotten. Was this not supposed to be a year for growth and learning, anyway?

Chelsea should not have paid the ridiculous price tag. Arrizabalaga isn’t worth it. No goalkeeper is. Few players anywhere in football are.

The blame for that lies at the feet of the directors alone. Despite Thibaut Courtois never hiding his desire to leave, somehow the planning on Chelsea’s part failed to account for the possibility that he actually would do it. Thus the Blues likely just picked up the phone and said “OK” in a bid to get it over with.

The former Bilbao man has all the tools to be a fantastic player and likely will become one just like many of Chelsea’s young players. The team is struggling and it is unbelievably frustrating but this is different territory than it has been for a long time. As with Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kepa Arrizabalaga will require a great deal of patience if he is to be the player he should be, and if he becomes that player the wait will have been worth it.

Frank Lampard will know that and fix it but he’s less than two years into his career as a manager and less than one into his time as Chelsea boss. The patience with the players must also extend to him.