Chelsea have more than enough reason to keep faith with Kepa Arrizabalaga
Kepa Arrizabalaga has had a touch and go season, but overall Chelsea has enough to keep faith in the young keeper going forward.
Kepa Arrizabalaga has courted controversy during his time with Chelsea. His arrival as the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, following Thibaut Courtois’ acrimonious departure, placed a heavy weight upon his young shoulders. The criticism he received from the media for his storm-in-a-teacup rebuttal of Maurizio Sarri’s autocratic attempt to substitute him in last season’s League Cup final was massively overblown.
However, as the Italians’ supporters will be keen to point out, that is all in the past. Their desire to move away from Sarri underlines the fact that he was simply not right for Chelsea.
With Frank Lampard now in charge, Arrizabalaga started the season as the club’s No. 1 with Willy Caballero backing him up. A 4-0 defeat on the first day of the season to Manchester United gave indication of tough times ahead.
The passing of time has, fortunately, not delivered on the fear of failure for Lampard and his team of youngsters. Results and performances have on the whole been positive, but it is defensively where cracks have been most apparent.
As the last line of defense, Arrizabalaga has the ultimate responsibility for keeping the ball out of the net he guards. Those in front of him have hindered him in his quest to achieve that but it is Arrizabalaga that has borne the brunt of the criticism.
Week on week, a back three becomes a back four and such is the rotation between those players left to defend Chelsea’s honor that Arrizabalaga has, at times, been left floundering for air.
Given the circumstances, it is difficult to blame any of this on Lampard. Transfer bans and no cohesive transfer strategy from the board over the last three or four seasons have left the squad depleted of truly world class players. For his price tag, Arrizabalaga has the potential to become just that with the right players around him.
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Many chuckled when Courtois departed to Real Madrid and had a nightmare start. Many laughed and laughed at the goals he conceded. However, pre-corona-lockdown, it was beginning to come good for the Belgian shot-stopper.
The same can happen with Arrizabalaga: it can all come good. Some have already seen the signs against Liverpool and Everton. Lampard’s decision to remove him from the limelight following a series of mistakes now looks like the right one.
No one knows how long the world will have to wait for football to return and maybe in the grand scheme of things no one should care, but they do regardless. However long it takes, football will be back. Whilst supporters discuss who should replace Arrizabalaga, if the club and Lampard decide to cut their losses, they are losing sight of the bigger picture.
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Chelsea’s defensive frailties revolve around more than just one man intent on punching the ball when it would be easier to catch it. There is building work to be done by the powers that be and that can only strengthen Arrizabalaga’s belief and ability. Arrizabalaga’s days at Stamford Bridge may have been teetering on the brink but they are far from over.