Jose Mourinho has had his say regarding Kepa Arrizabalaga’s refusal to be subbed off during Chelsea’s the League Cup final against Manchester City, saying it left the Blues, especially Maurizio Sarri, in a “very fragile” situation.
With Sarri already widely rumoured to be nearing the sack at Chelsea prior to Sunday’s match, Kepa’s seemingly brazen act of defiance had only made matters worse for the 60-year-old Italian at the west London club. The Spaniard and the Blues boss had since attempted to put the matter to bed, calling it a “misunderstanding”, yet many are still talking about the repercussions of the incident, including former Blues manager Mourinho.
During his second stint as Chelsea manager, the Portuguese seemed to lose command of the Blues squad before being shown the door by the club in December 2015 and similar conditions appear to be emerging right now at the club which suggest Sarri may suffer a similar fate.
Speaking at his punditry gig for a video streaming service, Mourinho thought Kepa wanted to play at the biggest stage for the Blues, which he understood, but at the same time, the goalkeeper’s actions left Sarri in a very difficult spot.
“Luckily I never had to live through anything like this,” said the former Chelsea manager. “I think on the one hand the goalkeeper wants to show his personality, his confidence, and wants to say ‘I’m here, I want to go to penalties and save them, and I am here with the confidence that I will go and do it’. And this is what I like.”
“Then I don’t really like that he (Kepa) leaves the manager, the coaches and everyone else in a very fragile situation, also including one of his own team-mates who was ready to enter the pitch.”
Mourinho went on to express his sympathy for reserve goalkeeper Willy Caballero, who was ready to get on to the pitch but never did.
“Eventually we saw how he (Caballero) was thrown into a mess that he wasn’t really part of,” continued Mourinho. “It saddens me, because it’s a really complicated situation.”
