🇪🇸 Kepa Arrizabalaga

[Vesper 30,195]

Inside Chelsea: £71m Kepa certainly has the attitude to be the club’s long-term No 1 – but does he have the ability?

https://theathletic.com/1535923/2020/01/16/kepa-arrizabalaga-chelsea-goalkeeper/

Signing a striker is Chelsea’s top January priority, but it is becoming increasingly clear that one of the most important long-term decisions facing Frank Lampard may lie at the other end of the pitch.

Every elite team needs a reliable goalkeeper and Chelsea were confident that they had acquired a vital piece of their next great side when they paid Athletic Bilbao a club-record £71 million to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga, as successor to Thibaut Courtois, in the summer of 2018.

A little more than 18 months into his rollercoaster career in England, however, many inside and outside the club remain far from convinced that Kepa has justified being made the most expensive goalkeeper ever. Looking back at the 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on New Years’ Day, having witnessed his No 1 make several crucial saves, Lampard’s praise came with the hint of a challenge.

“I think he has made good saves recently, notably (in that game),” Chelsea’s head coach said. “I’m always happy with that because that is what he is there for, but it is great to see Kepa maybe win us or save us points. Hopefully that can continue.”

For every eye-catching Kepa intervention this season, there have also been high-profile mistakes — most memorably the casual, wayward pass aimed at Kurt Zouma that led to Dominic Calvert-Lewin poking in Everton’s third goal in a 3-1 win at Goodison Park last month. The extent of the criticism that followed underlined just how little trust he commands from his own club’s fans.

Doubts about Kepa go beyond obvious howlers. He has been unable to shake the more general impression that in all three fundamental aspects of goalkeeping — shot-stopping, distribution and command of the penalty area — he falls short of the standard set by the position’s very best.

This season’s numbers make for ugly reading. Kepa ranks in the bottom three among Premier League starting goalkeepers for overall save percentage (57.4%), percentage of shots from inside the box saved (52%), and percentage of shots from outside the box saved (72.2%). All three are significant decreases on last season, while his pass accuracy has also dipped from 85.44% to 78.34%.

“It’s been a funny season for him, hasn’t it?” Rob Green, who acted as back-up to Kepa and Willy Caballero last season, tells The Athletic. “I think when you’re playing so many games as a keeper, the fluctuations are going to be there.

“What he’s got (in his favour)… he’s got fantastic feet, a lot of power. He has big thighs, a lot of muscle and that gives him a big spring. He is very fast as well, comes with a lot of speed.”

Chelsea’s defensive problems are bigger than Kepa, and it is reasonable to argue that Lampard’s frequent tweaks of defensive systems and personnel this season have had a destabilising effect on the man between the posts. That is certainly the view of Mark Schwarzer, who spent two years at Stamford Bridge backing up Petr Cech and Courtois.

“At Chelsea there are a lot of players at the back who are still trying to come to terms with a new system, and with the pressure of playing regularly,” he tells The Athletic. “At times they will play not quite the right type of ball, or they’ll receive the ball in the wrong position. They know they have to be willing to receive it, and they’re just hoping other players will make movements and allow them to lay it off. At times that doesn’t happen so they’re playing a rushed ball back to the goalkeeper.

“All those aspects come into play, and Chelsea are a team that’s still trying to find its feet. You’ve got a changing of the guard, a lot of young, inexperienced players who are being given a chance to step up, and that’s been challenging for them. That has an effect on the goalkeeper, no matter how good he is with his feet. I feel for Kepa a little bit in that regard.”

But more advanced metrics, which better isolate a goalkeeper’s performance from those of his defenders, paint a worrying picture.

Kepa has conceded 29 goals in the Premier League this season, almost six more than Chelsea’s expected goals against (xGA) figure of 23.21. Using expected goals on target (xGOT) — which factors in how difficult shots on target are to save — it emerges that Kepa has allowed 7.45 goals more than the average goalkeeper would have been expected to.

The only Premier League goalkeepers with comparable under-performance are Burnley’s Nick Pope (8.09 more goals than expected) and Southampton’s Angus Gunn (7.38 more goals than expected), who was dropped after conceding nine times in one match against Leicester in October.

Kepa had a better impact in his debut season at Chelsea, though still marginally negative — conceding 1.86 goals more than the average goalkeeper would be expected to — and Statsbomb analysis of his 2017-18 campaign with Bilbao revealed that he had allowed 37 goals from an expected goals against figure of 31.35.

In short, the statistics suggest Kepa’s overall performance level so far in his senior career has been significantly below that attained by the world’s best goalkeepers. There have been enough flashes of quality on the pitch, however, to offer hope that he can get there — and those who have worked with him on a daily basis at Cobham have no doubts about his work ethic or desire to improve.

“As a person he’s a really nice lad, and he’s got a fantastic attitude,” Green adds. “He does have this side of him which is arrogant, or certainly very confident in his own ability. It’s that fine line and he has that. He carries the fact that he is the most expensive keeper in the world with him.

“There is that edge to him in training. We used to have these races. I was the slowest by a long, long way. He was so much quicker than all the keepers, but he still had to cheat (and get a head start). He would have won anyway, but he still had to cheat. I would cheat just to keep up.

“We’d end up with (coach) Hilario going through the footage after training and seeing who cheated and where. I tried to do the drill where the camera couldn’t pick me up! But it was all good fun.

“Another thing he’d do in training is suddenly he will stop and say, ‘We’ve done all that. OK. Now I want this particular drill. This is what I need.’ It was fair enough. He is the one out on the pitch. But it shows a strength of character to speak up like that.”

Kepa’s less positive displays this season have prompted some to question Hilario’s credentials for the role of senior goalkeeping coach. Chelsea opted to promote from within after Massimo Nenci followed Maurizio Sarri to Juventus last summer, and Lampard has publicly denied reports that he wanted to bring Shay Given with him to Cobham from his previous job at Derby County.

Schwarzer, however, does not see an issue. “Hilario has been at Chelsea for a long time, so he knows the club inside out,” he insists. “I think he’s in a really good position to pass on a lot of knowledge.

“I know how the system works at Chelsea. Christophe Lollichon is in the background as well — very much involved in goalkeeper recruitment and scouting. Hilario worked under Christophe for a long time, so I think they’ve got a good system in place. It’s more about Kepa himself adjusting to the Premier League and finding some consistency.”

Kepa admits that his adaptation to the game in England has not been seamless. “It’s a little bit different to playing in La Liga,” he said in an interview with Chelsea’s official website this week. “The players, and the goalkeeper also, are less protected by the referee. You need to be stronger in some balls, because the referee doesn’t say it’s a foul. You need to learn a little bit these situations.

“You also need to understand English football is very quick, can have less control or less touches, but more opportunities. The ball can be far away, but in two touches it’s in the box, so I need to be ready for 90 minutes. The games are very good to watch, with a lot of goals, speed. You need some time, but then it’s fun to play.

“Of course you work on it with your team-mates and the goalkeeper coach, but also you keep your time after training: to try some passes, try some situations that can happen in the game. The final target is to improve and be better.”

Chelsea are heavily invested in Kepa’s continued improvement, and there is no suggestion yet of another high-profile goalkeeper being brought in to compete with him. But his price tag and status as Spain’s No 1 goalkeeper dictate that his performances will continue to be measured against the world’s best, at Cobham and beyond.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

£72m cock-up. Get rid. 

[Vesper 30,195]

Just now, BlueLion. said:

£72m cock-up. Get rid. 

we surely at least need to get decent competition for him

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Just now, Vesper said:

we surely at least need to get decent competition for him

You know as a keeper coach myself I'll always look for a way to defend my goalkeeper, but that's the final straw for me. ANY professional goalkeeper should have that save. That one was worse than Pope's last week for Tammy's header. 

[LAM09 7,056]

That one was worse than Pope's last week for Tammy's header. 

I think that's stretching a bit. Just can't stand the fact that he constantly looks to blame others than see he's largely at fault & man up to it.

[Jase 43,479]

Lampard needs to be questioned more over Kepa's form this season. Been getting away with it! 

[Jase 43,479]

No questions about Kepa to Lampard. Of course...

[killer1257 3,282]

Lampard needs to be questioned more over Kepa's form this season. Been getting away with it! 

He got questioned about him couple of weeks ago.



Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk

[Jase 43,479]

4 minutes ago, killer1257 said:

He got questioned about him couple of weeks ago.



Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk

But hardly much. Kepa is the most expensive keeper in the world but the media don't seem bother to even create some sort of drama and ask questions, like they typically do!

[killer1257 3,282]

But hardly much. Kepa is the most expensive keeper in the world but the media don't seem bother to even create some sort of drama and ask questions, like they typically do!

So you want the media to bash a already not so confident Kepa ? We will have to Keep him at least Til Next Summer.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk

[Jase 43,479]

6 minutes ago, killer1257 said:

So you want the media to bash a already not so confident Kepa ? We will have to Keep him at least Til Next Summer.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk
 

No, I'm just surprised that there has been a lack of attention over his form. Maybe because he doesn't have some big personality but you've seen what the English media do with players like Pogba and yet, there's barely anything on Kepa. They don't even question Lampard despite his dodgy form, Kepa having one of the worst save ratios etc. 

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

I've said it on here before he's our worse keeper since Dave Beasant and he looks like Dutch from The Shield.

[manpe 10,861]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

No, I'm just surprised that there has been a lack of attention over his form. Maybe because he doesn't have some big personality but you've seen what the English media do with players like Pogba and yet, there's barely anything on Kepa. They don't even question Lampard despite his dodgy form, Kepa having one of the worst save ratios etc. 

Shh! don't give them ideas 

[Vesper 30,195]

1 hour ago, Iggy Doonican said:

I've said it on here before he's our worse keeper since Dave Beasant and he looks like Dutch from The Shield.

In September 1992, two mistakes in a match against Norwich City led to Chelsea manager Ian Porterfield telling the media that Beasant would never play for the club again, although in fact he returned to the side when Porterfield was sacked later that season.

During the 1993–94 season Beasant sustained an unusual injury when, while making a sandwich in his kitchen, he dropped a 2 kg glass bottle of salad cream on his foot, severing the tendon to his big toe. As a result, he missed eight weeks of the season.

 

[calculatingInfinity 1,472]

An the absolute trash dog in Kepa shows its ugly face again again again again. While there is plenty of positions that could be strengthened on this Chelsea team, the keeper position is one that is absolutely needed if the club wants to be taken seriously. He is dog shit.

 

 

 

[Vesper 30,195]

£143m (fee plus salary) Kepa is now on track possibly erase Drinkwater as the donkey of donkies (in fact erase like 3 or 4 more shit buys all by himself)

and this ALL goes down to Marina and the board's refusal to sell Courtois (for at least 75m as well I remind you) in summer 2017 to RM

add in the 45m or so less we got for Cuntois, plus the insane over pay for Kepa in 2018

the numbers are jaw dropping

 

 

 

#fucktheboard

[Superblue 6,372]

1 minute ago, Vesper said:

£143m (fee plus salary) Kepa is now on track possibly erase Drinkwater as the donkey of donkies (in fact erase like 3 or 4 more shit buys all by himself)

and this ALL goes down to Marina and the board's refusal to sell Courtois (for at least 75m as well I remind you) in summer 2017 to RM

add in the 45m or so less we got for Cuntois, plus the insane over pay for Kepa in 2018

the numbers are jaw dropping

 

 

 

#fucktheboard

Easy to look at this now in hindsight I think but the club probably still felt there was a good chance of getting Courtois to re-sign with 2 years left on his deal. It's a calculated risk in my opinion when you have one of the best in the world in their position and at an excellent age at the club and trying to retain their services.

Kepa may have ended up a bit of a panic buy in the end but from what it appears our number one target was Alisson and number two was Oblak who both rejected us. Then, again, if reports are to be believed we made a choice that we'd keep Courtois the extra season and let him leave on a free and re-assess the following season. Again, not possible once Courtois started to force the move (and in hindsight a good move after the ban in the summer window)

When some of the other names we were being linked to were the likes of Butland and even Joe Hart, could you imagine the meltdown if we sold Courtois and brought one of these in to replace? 

Kepa clearly isn't a mug. He's highly regarded in Spain, with a lot of people preferring him over De Gea and Real Madrid made a move for him before Courtois. 

But he hasn't played well for a while and it does create a big problem, as you've pointed out, with the commitment made on him it almost has to be followed through now because no club is going to pay the fee we did for him. I think the most damning indictment of him at present is any shot in or around our box at present I'm not confident of him saving, even fairly standard ones. 

[Vesper 30,195]

11 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

Easy to look at this now in hindsight I think but the club probably still felt there was a good chance of getting Courtois to re-sign with 2 years left on his deal. It's a calculated risk in my opinion when you have one of the best in the world in their position and at an excellent age at the club and trying to retain their services.

Kepa may have ended up a bit of a panic buy in the end but from what it appears our number one target was Alisson and number two was Oblak who both rejected us. Then, again, if reports are to be believed we made a choice that we'd keep Courtois the extra season and let him leave on a free and re-assess the following season. Again, not possible once Courtois started to force the move (and in hindsight a good move after the ban in the summer window)

When some of the other names we were being linked to were the likes of Butland and even Joe Hart, could you imagine the meltdown if we sold Courtois and brought one of these in to replace? 

Kepa clearly isn't a mug. He's highly regarded in Spain, with a lot of people preferring him over De Gea and Real Madrid made a move for him before Courtois. 

But he hasn't played well for a while and it does create a big problem, as you've pointed out, with the commitment made on him it almost has to be followed through now because no club is going to pay the fee we did for him. I think the most damning indictment of him at present is any shot in or around our box at present I'm not confident of him saving, even fairly standard ones. 

Courtois in 2017 said over and over and over and over he wanted to go back to Madrid and would not renew.

If we (my wife, my family, all my real life Blues mates, my goddamn Bulgarian mani-pedi woman (not joking we talked footie all the time, her auntie was neighbours with Stoichov in Plovdiv) ffs) knew he was gone, surely the board did OR they are truly as fucking STUPID as I think.

[Superblue 6,372]

11 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Courtois in 2017 said over and over and over and over he wanted to go back to Madrid and would not renew.

If we (my wife, my family, all my real life Blues mates, my goddamn Bulgarian mani-pedi woman (not joking we talked footie all the time, her auntie was neighbours with Stoichov in Plovdiv) ffs) knew he was gone, surely the board did OR they are truly as fucking STUPID as I think.

He and Hazard also gave a lot of mixed messages in the media about staying or going. One interview he'd talk about going back to Madrid for family reasons, and another interview he'd say he could stay in London for a few more years and move back to Madrid at the end of his career.

Yes it was always likely that he would go but it's never a given. There are lots of examples that players or clubs perform a u-turn when it looks unlikely. 

As I said, the club took a calculated risk letting him play another year of his contract out but I believe at the time it probably felt the right call because he was one of the best around. 

[Vesper 30,195]

Kepa Arrizabalaga's Chelsea future: Is he a problem for Frank Lampard?

Goalkeeper's statistics suggest he is costing Chelsea goals and experts in the field believe there is a technical flaw in his game

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/11913442/kepa-arrizabalagas-chelsea-future-is-he-a-problem-for-frank-lampard

 

great article