Ex-Chelsea man Mario Melchiot has claimed that Kepa Arrizabalaga is set for a ‘hard’ time after the return of Frank Lampard, several months after the goalkeeper slammed his old manager for his tactics.
Lampard returned to Chelsea this week as an interim coach, with Graham Potter having been shown the exit door on Sunday night with results showing no signs of improvement.
It will be his second spell in charge, and during his first he dropped Kepa in favour of Edouard Mendy during his second season in charge, after the Spaniard enjoyed a mixed time in between the posts.
Speaking earlier this year, Kepa claimed that the football played under Lampard was too basic, and that Tuchel’s improvement of the side was largely down to making them more complex tactically.
“I have enthusiasm, ambition, the desire to start, to enjoy and, above all, to play more”, he told Spanish media.
“Being more games on the pitch. In the end, the one who decides is the coach. What you have to give him are the maximum possible reasons for him to choose you”.
“With Tuchel we have returned to control.”
“He makes you have to make more decisions and be a very important part of the team’s game output. The conversation with him is easy, on a day-to-day basis he is totally accessible to the players. I notice the affection and trust that he has in me.”
And this outburst will not stand Kepa in good stead under the returning Lampard, ex-Chelsea man Melchiot claimed.
“You know how hard it will be for Kepa to be in the dressing room? You had a go at your coach and ten that coach comes back and now you have to sit with him. Oh my God… So Kepa, I don’t know what he is going to do,” he told ESPNFC.
Kepa, who was trusted by Graham Potter to be first choice, is expected to start the first game of Lampard’s reign due to injury to Edouard Mendy, but may find his position under threat in the weeks to come.
