Claudio Filippi pondered Chelsea’s decision to bring on Kepa Arrizabalaga in place of Edouard Mendy ahead of the penalty shoot-out loss to Liverpool.
Coach Thomas Tuchel brought on the Spaniard in the 120th minute of the match, clearly making a tactical decision ahead of the penalty shoot-out. The German coach made the same decision to great effect in the UEFA Super Cup match against Villarreal last summer, where Kepa made two stops. This highlights how it’s a risky call to make, as it can either look genius or foolish.
Filippi questioned whether this tactical decision is a correct move or not on his Instagram page, saying: “It is a good choice to bring on the goalkeeper who has the best ability to save penalties?”
The Juventus goalkeeping coach uses his Instagram page to provide tips and a place of discussion for young goalkeepers, so the question was not meant disingenuously.
Looking at the statistics, it is clear to see why Tuchel would pick Kepa over Mendy, even if the Senegalese shot stopper is better overall. Excluding penalty shoot-outs, the Spaniard has saved seven of the 24 penalties he’s faced in his career, giving him a stop rate of 29.2. Mendy has only saved two of the 32 he’s faced, giving him a non shoot-out stop rate of 6.25%.
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He made a mistake by introducing kepa. He was once gifted a chance
to save penelities butt his abnormal ability would not work with the reds.
Nice decision from Thomas tuchel, had it been cfc won the match , people won’t be saying trash like this,
Instead of English tabloid to attack mason mount , dey are attacking Thomas tuchel