It was clear that Chelsea needed to sign a new goalkeeper this summer, but it took them some time to finally get someone over the line.
Big things were expected of Kepa after he made the big money move from Athletic Bilbao, and he started off fairly well. There was a definite turning point after the farce with Maurizio Sarri in the cup final where he refused to be subbed, and he’s slowly turned into a laughing stock.
The biggest problem Frank Lampard had is that the defence clearly lost trust in their goalkeeper, so they started making decisions with that in mind and the whole team started to go downhill.
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Lampard offered little comfort in the press to Kepa either so it’s not a surprise that his confidence was shot, and it gave Edouard Mendy the ideal scenario.
Usually an incoming Chelsea goalkeeper would be under so much pressure to perform, but expectations were so low that even the slightest sign of competence would represent a serious upgrade.
Mendy has had a solid start to life at Stamford Bridge, but this stat is particularly damning against Kepa:
Edouard Mendy has got as many clean sheets for Chelsea in October as Kepa Arrizabalaga has got since January 12.
— Richard Jolly (@RichJolly) October 28, 2020
Signing Mendy was a risk due to his lack of experience but he’s given Chelsea what they needed with a calm presence at the back who gives confidence to those in front of him, and it looks like they made the right choice by bringing him in.