Kepa Arrizabalaga skies his penalty during the Carabao Cup final shootout. (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel has issued his support to Kepa Arrizabalaga for the latter’s penalty miss in the Carabao Cup final loss against Liverpool. The Spaniard was the only one to miss his spot-kick after he was brought on for Edouard Mendy specifically for his expertise in penalty shoot-outs.
Known for his excellent performances in similar situations, Kepa was expected to take control and hand Chelsea the edge after the end of extra time. But after letting in 11 straight Liverpool penalties, the ex-Athletic Bilbao star skied his penalty into the stands, handing the Reds their ninth League Cup in the process.
Speaking in the post-match press conference (h/t Football.London), Tuchel expressed that the Blues do not blame the Spaniard for the damning penalty miss. He added that no one could say for sure what would have happened had Mendy remained on the pitch.
“We took the decision like we did last time in a penalty shootout because Kepa is training with the players [for penalties] on a daily basis and they know how good he is. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make a save – their penalties were brilliantly taken – and it was a bit harsh on him that he was the guy to miss the one and only penalty, but there is no blame. We all don’t know what would happen if we left Edou on the pitch. This is how it is so no blame on him, blame me.”
We cannot really single out anyone for the disappointing loss at the end of the day. The 27-year-old keeper has proven his prowess in shootouts, so the German boss’ decision is completely warranted. Moreover, even if the Senegalese had stayed on the pitch, we cannot say for sure how things would have transpired.
But it can’t be denied that bringing on a goalkeeper just for the shootouts does put some pressure on the man. It is not a common sight in football and if the decision backfires, like it did yesterday night, fans would always wonder why the manager did not follow the conventional way of sticking with the keeper on the field for the entirety of the game.
Not to mention, Kepa wouldn’t have had a lot of touches on the ball and his spot-kick clearly showed that.
But then again, it really was one of those days where things did not seem to go in our favour no matter what. We actually put the ball inside the net thrice on the day within 120 minutes, but none of those counted. That being said, we cannot dwell on the setback for too long and look to better our season moving forward.
We still have a chance to win silverware in this campaign, considering our presence in the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Premier League. The league may seem out of our reach, but we cannot accept defeat when it is still mathematically possible for us to win the title.
It now remains to be seen if we can use this loss in the final to push ourselves in the other competitions or not in the coming months.
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