For 115 minutes, the 2019 Carabao Cup was a fairly drab affair for the neutral.
Chelsea had moved away from Sarrismo to avoid a repeat of the 6-0 humiliation that occurred two weeks prior, stifling Manchester City’s attack with solid defensive work.
Both sides had their chances with N’Golo Kante and Sergio Aguero going close, though the game eventually went to the inevitable penalty shootout. Manchester City emerged victorious, retaining the Carabao Cup, but the result of the match was largely forgotten thanks to a bizarre few minutes before the end of extra-time.
With penalties looming, Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga looked to be struggling with injury, having gone down twice in the second period of extra-time. Back-up shot-stopper Willy Caballero was prepped and looked ready to come on with Maurizio Sarri ultimately making the decision to confirm the change.
But Arrizabalaga had other things in mind. The Spaniard appeared to be refusing to come off despite his number being shown on the fourth official’s board, sending Maurizio Sarri into a short burst of anger.
Come the end of the match, Antonio Rudiger looked to be playing peacekeeper between Sarri and Arrizabalaga, an unnecessary distraction with penalties looming. Both Sarri and Arrizabalaga have played down the incident as a misunderstanding, but that has not stopped the conversation.
As usual, there was an array of opinions on what should happen to Arrizabalaga as a result of his apparent disobedience. Does the Spaniard deserve to be dropped? Read on to find what Squawka’s writers think on the matter.
Sam Long (@samuelplong)
Yes
The substitution fiasco was clearly far more than a mere “misunderstanding”. Maurizio Sarri’s reaction to the incident told you that.
If it was simply a matter of poor communication why did he berate the bench before storming down the tunnel? And why did he give Kepa an earful prior to the penalty shoot-out?
Having been undermined so clearly – in public – there appears to be no way back for Sarri. Kepa deserves to be dropped but the way the matter has been managed by the club shows that he will escape punishment.
With Chelsea’s season hanging in the balance they can ill-afford to bench the world’s most expensive goalkeeper – Roman Abramovich cares more about results than his manager’s pride.
Now that Sarri has dismissed the severity of the incident, there will be no ramifications for the 24-year-old. But playing dumb is unlikely to be enough to pull the wool over people’s eyes.
The Spaniard’s actions may well have born out a desire to stay on the pitch and help the team, rather than deliver two fingers to his manager, but the writing is on the wall – Sarri has lost the dressing room.
Muhammad Butt (@muhammadbutt)
No
The idea that Kepa Arrizabalaga needs to be cast out into the wasteland after his antics at the end of the Carabao Cup final is laughable. Kepa’s actions did portray that not many of the Chelsea squad respect Sarri, as none of the senior players came over to mediate the situation and diffuse the tension, but it was clear that Kepa was not intentionally disrespecting his coach.
This was a cup final and he was literally minutes away from a penalty shootout where, as a goalkeeper, he would have to do something extraordinary to come out of it looking bad (as it turns out, he did manage to come out of the shootout looking bad but he can’t have known that at the time). OF COURSE he had no desire to come off and would do everything in his power to stay on. He wasn’t injured and could have become a hero!
So no, Sarri shouldn’t drop Kepa. The time for power moves has passed (that would have been quitting on the spot or at least forcing Kepa to come off the pitch) and now Sarri needs to make sure his best goalkeeper can put that poor penalty shootout display behind him and get ready for a big match against Spurs.
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Will Eldridge (@willgeorgejourn)
Yes
Does he deserve dropping? Of course he does. Whether that will actually happen or not remains to be seen though. With Chelsea struggling in the Premier League, it is my guess that Sarri will try and brush this under the carpet as soon as possible.
If you have read or listened to all the quotes coming out of Chelsea in the last 24 hours, that is exactly what is happening. Sarri’s frustration, the longevity of the situation and Kepa’s anger all signify that it wasn’t just a medical misunderstanding keeping Kepa on the pitch.
Thoroughly unprofessional but no action will be taken.
Harry Edwards (@harryedwards16)
No
Although the incident was so recent, it already feels like we are past the stage for Chelsea to take action on Arrizabalaga.
Both he and Sarri have come out to say it was a misunderstanding over the severity of the injury and the goalkeeper’s ability to play on, and the club should leave it at that. The incident has already overshadowed Chelsea’s impressive performance despite the defeat, and the club cannot afford to let it shape the rest of their season.
Up next for Chelsea is a crunch clash with Tottenham Hotspur which can make or break the club’s quest for a place in the top four and one they cannot be without their first-choice goalkeeper for.
If Chelsea do decide Arrizabalaga deserves punishing, a fine should suffice – not dropping the Spaniard – allowing the club to sweep the incident under the rug as much as they can. Either way though, Arrizabalaga should have to make a swift public apology to both Sarri and the fans – heartfelt, not the usual social media savvy posts players are used to posting after defeats.
Chris Smith (@CJSmith91)
Yes
I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything quite like that, have we?
There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that Kepa has to be dropped after a blatant undermining of his manager. Maybe Chelsea’s players aren’t happy with Sarri’s methods? They may well want him replaced in the dugout, but what you do on the pitch and how you behave in front of the cameras directly reflects on you as a player and, more importantly, a person.
The fact that Kepa was feigning cramp was laughable in itself but to publicly ridicule your manager’s authority is unacceptable and forces Sarri’s hand: drop him and assert your authority or allow him to keep his place and set a very dangerous precedent.
Wednesday’s visit of Tottenham is going to be very interesting, indeed.
What others had to say
Given the occasion, there has been no lack of opinions from ex-players on Arrizabalaga’s refusal to be substituted, with various results.
Former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton was scathing in his criticism of Arrizabalaga, urging the Blues to sack the goalkeeper, not Sarri.
“Kepa should never play for Chelsea again. that should be his last performance in a Chelsea shirt,” Sutton told the BBC.
“He’s a disgrace. I’ve never seen anything like it. If I was Sarri I would walk. You cannot be undermined. Why weren’t the players dragging Kepa off anyway?
“Kepa should be sacked, not Sarri.”
Sutton was joined in his criticism of Arrizabalaga by former Chelsea FC Women’s star Eniola Aluko, who believes the goalkeeper should be demoted to the bench.
She wrote on Twitter: “Everytime I watch KepaGate it makes my blood boil. This is why coaching will not be for me. I would have run on the pitch and dragged the boy off myself (by his ears).
Everytime I watch #KepaGate it makes my blood boil. This is why coaching will not be for me. I would have run on the pitch and dragged the boy off myself (by his ears) The absolute disrespect of him. Feel sorry for Sarri. Kepa should sit the bench now and eat humble pie.
— Eniola Aluko (@EniAlu) February 24, 2019
“The absolute disrespect of him. Feel sorry for Sarri. Kepa should sit the bench now and eat humble pie.
However, Jamie Redknapp believes it would be detrimental for Chelsea to drop Arrizabalaga given their fight for the top four and Europa League.
“There will be calls for the Kepa to be dropped and even sanctioned by the club,” Redknapp told the Daily Mail.
“But if Chelsea come down hard on him, they are cutting off their nose to spite their face.
“Everyone at the club has to draw a line under this as quickly as possible. Chelsea are in an intense battle for the top four and face Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. They simply cannot afford to go into that huge clash — and indeed the rest of the season — without their first-choice goalkeeper.
“I cannot imagine the club would wish to jettison him just six months after they spent a world-record £71.6million to sign him. Kepa should not be vilified for this incident. He hasn’t done this consciously to embarrass his boss.
“Remember, this is a young man in his first final for his new club. His actions showed his determination to finish the job after shutting out a Manchester City side that have scored a staggering 127 goals in all competitions this season.”
The post We asked five writers whether Kepa should be dropped from Chelsea’s XI appeared first on Squawka News.
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