Chelsea: Simply replacing Kepa Arrizabalaga will not fix defensive frailties

Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga has had a very rough season, but simply replacing him will not fix the club’s defensive frailties.

The season is over, Chelsea is in the Champions League next year and Frank Lampard still has a chance for some silverware in his first year at the club as manager. Add into that the arrival of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech for next season at Stamford Bridge, is that mission accomplished?

In a word, yes. Lampard has defied the expectations from the start of the season and brought in a number of youth players that have become staples of the line up. He has also transformed the Blues into a more free flowing attacking style of play that was stifled under Maurizio Sarri.

The Chelsea of this year is not without troubles however. In recent weeks, the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, has come under the most intense scrutiny. His performances have left something to be desired but do not allow the media storm surrounding him to pull the wool over your eyes.

There is no doubt the Spaniard has not lived up to his price tag. He has given up more goals than he should have and at times his positioning and reading of the play has been poor, but it is not just Arrizabalaga who should be held accountable.

Chelsea has a defense that is far from world class. Reece James might be very very good in a few years, Antonio Rudiger is on the lower half of the elite scale (although that form has escaped him since the restart), and Cesar Azpilicueta is nothing if not dependable. That is where it stops for the Blues.

Neither Andreas Christensen nor Kurt Zouma has shown they should be entrusted with starting duties come next season, while the dearth of quality at left back is, quite frankly, shocking. Marcos Alonso is good going forward, but his defense leaves a lot to ask for while Emerson has never quite lived up to the glimpses Chelsea fans saw under Sarri.

The Blues were appalling at the back more often than they were not this year. So while Arrizabalaga has not covered himself in glory every game, his defense does little to help him. The fact of the matter is that Arrizabalaga is not playing up to his price, but neither is his defense.

Arrizabalaga has shown glimpses of his elite shot stopping ability at some points. In the Liverpool cup game, for instance, he made unbelievable saves and he has kept Chelsea in other games, so the talent is there. There is no reason to think he can’t get better with more protection.

It is not beyond the realm of thinking (in fact its highly likely) that if Chelsea had secured the signing of Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly or Atletico Madrid’s Jose Gimenez (who the club is now linked to) prior to this season that the goal differential would be better and Arrizabalaga would not be facing as intense a scrutiny as he is now.

Although not confirmed, in all likelihood Arrizabalaga has burnt his last candle at Stamford Bridge; a point made evident by Frank Lampard starting Willy Caballero in the final game against Wolves.

Rumors have circulated that Lampard and the Blues are looking for new keepers once the deal for Kai Havertz concludes. If Chelsea wants to seriously contend with Liverpool, Manchester City and a resurgent Manchester United next year without spending anything on defense, then yes, Arrizabalaga has to go. His natural abilities are very good, just not good enough to make up for a lackluster defense.

All of that being said, from a purely financial point of view, does it not make more sense to spend a significant outlay on one world class defenders and a new left back? At least before the club cuts their losses with Arrizabalaga since those additions are crucial to the Blues anyway.

A new back line will not fix all of the problems the Spaniard has, but even with the links to the likes of Jan Oblak, Marc-Andre ter Stegen or even young Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma, Chelsea is not going to significantly improve unless their defensive unit is refreshed and revolutionized.

For the prices being touted for the likes of Oblak and Ter Stegen, there has to be a part of the Chelsea team that would consider instead spending it on someone like Atletico’s Gimenez,or Inter Milan’s Milan Skriniar. Adding one of those two instantly slots them into the starting XI and still leaves money for a left back not named Ben Chilwell.

Of course, a back line that has a Gimenez, Skriniar or Koulibaly and an Oblak or Ter Stegen would be superior but after the deals for Werner, Ziyech and presumably Havertz are the funds there to make all of those moves?

No doubt Chelsea would be significantly better with a combination of any of the defensive players named above replacing what they have now. A Jan Oblak arrival will make Chelsea undoubtedly better between the posts but only slightly better at defending corners and set pieces because he will have the same defenders in front of him.

Perhaps the performances were just too weak from Arrizabalaga this year to make retaining him a viable option. Delve into Twitter and YouTube and one will see most would rather throw Arrizabalaga out with the bathwater than to improve his defense and see if he elevates his game.

No doubt the feeling around Arrizabalaga would be far clearer if he made the mistakes he did behind a world class defense (or at least a defense that, as a total sum of its parts, could be considered elite).

The thought process being, if he is bad behind that defense then he really isn’t up to scratch. However, has he ever been blessed with that stable back line that compliments him and doesn’t expose him?

Going into next year, almost every fan at the Bridge expects to see a new number one between the posts, and unlike the Wolves game no one expects it to be Caballero. However, Blues fans do not be so easy to fool, replacing Kepa Arrizabalaga is not going to solve this team’s defensive issues, those problems, run far deeper.