Gary Neville makes Chelsea FC prediction about Kepa under Thomas Tuchel
Gary Neville doesn't believe Kepa Arrizabalaga will revive his Chelsea FC career under Thomas Tuchel
Gary Neville says he doesn’t expect Kepa Arrizabalaga to revive his Chelsea FC career under Thomas Tuchel.
The Spain international was frozen out at Chelsea FC under Tuchel’s predeccessor Frank Lampard after the goalkeeper’s error-strewn performances in the Blues team.
Lampard opted to leave the world’s most expensive goalkeeper on the bench in favour of his summer signing Edouard Mendy in the final months of his reign at Stamford Bridge.
Kepa was handed his first Premier League start since October for Chelsea FC’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge on Monday night to offer the Spanish goalkeeper some hope of reviving his career.
Kepa managed to keep a clean sheet in Chelsea FC’S fourth successive Premier League victory under the German head coach.
Sky Sports pundit Neville doesn’t expect Kepa to revive his Chelsea FC career at Stamford Bridge under Tuchel despite the Blues manager providing the goalkeeper with a rare start on Monday night.
“I think it’s a big [call]. I thought we had seen the last of him [Kepa] at Chelsea,” Neville told Sky Sports. “I think since Thomas Tuchel has come in he has restricted the number of shots at Chelsea’s goal and he will need to do that with Kepa in goal based on his form in previous games.
“When top managers come in they believe they can improve players so maybe he thinks he can get a tune out of Kepa.
“I have to say that he looked well short of what a top goalkeeper would be the last time we saw him. I thought he would be replaced and gone forever.
“The club will probably be saying they want him [Tuchel] to get the best out of players they’ve paid a fortune for, that might have been part of the brief.
“Secondly, he probably wants to give everyone a chance. The third bit is maybe the arrogance of a top manager thinking they can improve everybody by working with them.
“I’ll be surprised if we see Kepa turn around his fortunes at that club because he looked nothing like how a goalkeeper should be which is dominant. He’s just not that.”
Kepa moved to Chelsea FC in a £71.3m deal from Spanish side Athletic Bilbao in the 2018 summer transfer window.
The Spain international was signed by Maurizio Sarri but Kepa memorably disobeyed the Chelsea FC boss in the League Cup final at Wembley.
Kepa has scored 103 games in all competitions over the past three seasons.
