It was always clear that Kepa needed a big change to help rejuvenate his career, but could it be that a change of manager could help turn his Chelsea career around?
He was largely written off Frank Lampard and you could see why – He was making error after error and his general shakiness spread into the entire defence, while it clearly made them nervous as they made decisions to keep the ball away from him at all costs.
Edouard Mendy has looked great since joining the club so there’s no real reason to drop him just now, but it looks like Tuchel wants to give Kepa a chance to prove himself before making a decision on his future:
A big piece on Kepa Arrizabalaga:
– What’s gone wrong for him at Chelsea.
– A heart-to-heart with Marina Granovskaia
– Living alone through the pandemic
– Closing the replies on his Twitter account
– A possible first appearance under Tuchel #cfc https://t.co/8g51quwKCT— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) February 10, 2021
It looks like he’s going to get a start against Barnsley tomorrow night in the FA Cup so that will continue his run of games in the competition, but it will be interesting to see if he looks different under Tuchel.
He’s likely to see a bit of the ball as they play out from the back so he’ll need to show confidence to make that work, but it would be a win-win situation if he does look vastly improved after the change.
If he starts to show his quality again then Chelsea have another solid goalkeeping option, while it could also allow them to sell him for a bigger fee in the summer and he would go to his new club with confidence rather than fearing it could be his last chance.