Chelsea won 3-1 at Brighton in the early morning of September 15. The attack line as well as new recruits Timo Werner and Kai Havertz have integrated well. However, goalkeeper Kepa's form still made The Blues fans uneasy when they lost after a long-range shot from outside the box by Leandro Trossand.
That raises the question of whether Chelsea should continue to let Kepa start, in the context that the team is close to completing the recruitment of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from Rennes in France?
However, Lampard spoke in support: I am very happy with Kepa. With that shot, I'm not sure if he can do better, but I felt Kepa was more confident. Kepa here, he's ours.
Kepa was bought by Chelsea in the summer of 2018 for £70 million from Athletic Bilbao. Known as the most expensive goalkeeper in the world, Kepa's form is not high. In the past season, he conceded 43 goals, with a save percentage of just over 53%. In some matches last season, Lampard had to use reserve goalkeeper will caballero as a starting midfielder.
On Sky Sports, former Man United player Gary Neville emphasized that Chelsea will not be able to win the championship if they continue to trust Kepa.
I didnt think Lampard was happy with Kepa. As a former coach, in the dressing room, I understand that you have to support the players, praise them publicly, but that goal was really bad. Kepa has conceded many goals from outside the box last season. If you don't have a top goalkeeper, you can't win."
According to Sky Sports statistics, since 2018-2019, Kepa has been the top scorer from outside the Premier League with 19 goals conceded, much more than other less famous goalkeepers such as Mat Ryan (18), Martin Dubravka (14)... According to Neville, with a goalkeeper worth 70 million pounds, that is a terrible number.
A few years ago, I criticized Karius and Simon Mignolet, who have conceded 50 goals per season. But since Alisson Becker arrived, everything has been fine for Liverpool's goal. At Man City, too, in Pep Guardiola's first season, Claudio Bravo continuously conceded goals, the success rate of blockers was very poor. But when Ederson came, everything was fine.
Neville stressed Kepa's poor form as a warning for Frank Lampard. The owner Abramovich spent more than £200 million on this coach to buy in the summer transfer window this year. If Lampard cannot help Chelsea win the championship in the next 2-3 years, like Jurgen Klopp or Alex Ferguson, he will be fired.
More than anyone, Lampard understands the importance of the goalkeeper position in the squad. According to Neville, Chelsea need a big goalkeeper like Alisson Becker (Liverpool) or Ederson (Man City) to increase their chances of winning the championship. As Edouard Mendy - a Chelsea target, has a 76.3% save percentage much higher than Kepa (53.5%) in the 2019-2020 season. That could be the best option to solve Chelsea's goalkeeper problem this season.
