Carabao (EFL) Cup 18/19

[Evilo]

Not necessarily they were stuck in a hard spot and had to overpay for a goalie after Allison snubbed them and Court walked out.

FFS, Buy Ruffier for 30M€.
He's 3 times the keeper.

Nah, they thought of him much more higher than what they're getting.

 

[gary69]

Clearly Sarri comes across rather pathetically. 1) If he believes Kepa is injured -> then why get worked up by him being fine? He should have been pleased. Thumbs up that is it. 2) If he wants to make the change because of the upcoming shoot-out then he just needs to make the change.

Not that I think one incident makes or breaks things, but there is a risk this seriously hurt his authority in the group. He comes across as the opposite of a good leader for about 5 minutes. Indecisive and emotional. Not a good combination.

Yeah, this was mostly on Sarri making a big deal out of it. For example, in a similar situation Lloris once refused to come off (even the team doctors told hom to to do), but the the team manager Villas-Boas was a pro and accepted his decision without a fuss. Sarri wanted to be drama queen here (and/or poor communication from his part).

PICTURES: Lloris ignores orders to go off leaving Friedel stranded after clash with Lukaku

It's understandable that the media and pundits want to make a big deal of this because the need to sell their product, and fans (and rival team fans for opposing reasons) buy everything hook, line and sinker. But the staff should be pros (apparently only the team doctor was, and maybe Zola who talked to Sarri).

 

[gary69]

Wow. Disgraceful from Kepa. Were I a Chelsea supporter I'd want him transfer-listed and moved to the Reserves. I'd also want Azpilicueta stripped of his vice-captaincy. As for Sarri, his only mistake was letting Kepa stay on. I don't know what the rules are regarding a substitution, but I would suspect that if a player signaled to come off from the bench then at the end of the day he'd have to come off.

I think it's up to the player to decide whether he agrees to come off or not. Nothing the ref or the manager can do if the player refuses. The game just resumes with the player staying on the pitch.

 

[Cassano]

FFS, Buy Ruffier for 30M€.
He's 3 times the keeper.

Nah, they thought of him much more higher than what they're getting.

Ruffier is 32 and doesn't have upside that Kepa has. And debatable to say he's better, you could be among minority that believe that. Dropping 30mil would be nuts.

 

[hatterson]

Not really.I mean has anyone on here argued Kepa being better than he actually is? THere's little commentary on him to begin with and most of it is lukewarm.

You said a fee doesn’t change the perception of a player, and that’s just not true.

If Kepa was bought for 20 mil no one would be calling him overrated, he’s be a young up and coming keeper who can be solid for Chelsea for years to come.

If Pogba was bought for 50 million instead of 100 or whatever it was he’d generally be looked at as a player who has shown flashes of absolute brilliance but needs to add consistency to truly be in the discussion of the very best midfielders in the world. Instead he’s subject to endless rantings of him being overrated.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

It all started with people calling him bad, not just overrated.

 

[bleedblue1223]

1. Kepa's price tag is what it was simply due to Courtois screwing us over and being left with no options besides paying a release clause for a goalie that was both young enough and with enough quality to justify a significant investment. It's not like we deemed he was worth the price tag, we just simply had to pay it based on the situation. I find it silly to always use that price tag as a way to measure if he's overrated or not. Money doesn't matter for a big English club, it's not like that money prevented another move like it would've for a smaller club.

2. He's been a fine keeper this season, with multiple games where he's won us the match or saved a draw.

3. The situation has been a bit overblown, but both Kepa and Sarri could've handled it better. Winning solves everything. Kepa didn't get it done in the shootout, but a big win against Spurs will end the issue.

 

[Evilo]

Ruffier is 32 and doesn't have upside that Kepa has. And debatable to say he's better, you could be among minority that believe that. Dropping 30mil would be nuts.

Upside?
Kepa wished he had the upside of Ruffier's current level.
He's miles better.

 

[Il Mediano]

Of course a fee effects perception , but I think what D2M is saying is that that's dumb.

It's your call to allow yourself to be swayed by another club's foolishness in the market. I choose to look at what I see on the field.

That said, I actually think Kepa will be really good, he just made a massive mistake , and now I really don't like him that much.

 

[bleedblue1223]

The weird thing about it is, he's pretty mild-mannered, it was just so out of character for him. I think part of it was misunderstanding and part of it was him not wanting to be replaced in a final that he played.

 

[Cassano]

Upside?
Kepa wished he had the upside of Ruffier's current level.
He's miles better.

Lmao

 

[Evilo]

Yeah, you can laugh. Ruffier is one of the best goalies in the game and highly underrated.
He's vastly better right now than Kepa.

 

[maclean]

I'll admit it, I lolled

 

[maclean]

Yeah I'm afraid he's going to be fired, but I'm not sure which reaction he could have had to avoid this.
If he ignores like he's doing now, there's a good chance his authority is extremely undermined. Chelsea officials see this.
If he goes mad against his team's biggest investment, there's a good chance Chelsea officials think he's a circus (even though it's all on Kepa) and look elsewhere.

Way I see it, the way out is they explain it behind closed doors, Kepa gets some kind of face-saving punishment, sits the next game, pays a fine, whatever, then everything goes back to normal. Compromise, no one has to double down on anything.

 

[maclean]

1. Kepa's price tag is what it was simply due to Courtois screwing us over

Do you really feel like Courtois screwed you over? I mean, people had taken it for granted for some time he was in all likelihood going to Real. Didn't really feel unexpected and it's basically his right. Just curious as I haven't heard this take before though of course I understand not being happy about it

 

[gary69]

The weird thing about it is, he's pretty mild-mannered, it was just so out of character for him. I think part of it was misunderstanding and part of it was him not wanting to be replaced in a final that he played.

No, Kepa is actually very intimidating.

Even when he is laying down injured, people stay far away trying to avoid seeing what's going on (Azpi) or only dare to gesticulate at him from a long distance before trying to run away from the stadium (Sarri). Even those who have courage to approach Kepa, only quietly whisper in his presence (Luiz). Others simply are too scared to even come inside the stadium (Roman).




But yeah, it's understandable why, if he wasn't injured, he didn't want to come off in a final. A final which, who knows, might be once in a lifetime match for him at Wembley.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I mean the top 3 in PL are world-class (Alisson, DDG, Ederson), everyone will certainly look out of place compared to those 3.

Ederson is a tier below imo. Still a good keeper and a better distributor than the 2 mentioned but not quite in the top 5 echelon.

 

[gary69]

Way I see it, the way out is they explain it behind closed doors, Kepa gets some kind of face-saving punishment, sits the next game, pays a fine, whatever, then everything goes back to normal. Compromise, no one has to double down on anything.

Can't see him sitting out the next game, it would take all the credibility out from the 'misunderstanding' explanation. Better to be quiet about it publicly and move on. Like Barca and Luis Enrique didn't linger, when Messi refused to come off for a few meaningless minutes in a game already won.

Enrique plays down Messi 'refusal'

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Can't see him sitting out the next game, it would take all the credibility out from the 'misunderstanding' explanation. Better to be quiet about it publicly and move on. Like Barca and Luis Enrique didn't linger, when Messi refused to come off for a few meaningless minutes in a game already won.

Enrique plays down Messi 'refusal'

He did it with Pep too. They ask for a sub he said no end of story. Sarri went too far and poorly handled it.

 

[hatterson]

Ederson is a tier below imo. Still a good keeper and a better distributor than the 2 mentioned but not quite in the top 5 echelon.

In general I agree, but because City is so heavily built around distribution and not as much around making saves, he fits them perfectly and his overall performance ends up in the elite tier.

 

[The Abusement Park]

In general I agree, but because City is so heavily built around distribution and not as much around making saves, he fits them perfectly and his overall performance ends up in the elite tier.

Probably a fair assessment.

 

[Chimaera]

I just wish I could see someone try to do that to SAF or someone with some clout.

Sarri had already lost the team, it just reaffirmed it with this.

 

[maclean]

Can't see him sitting out the next game, it would take all the credibility out from the 'misunderstanding' explanation. Better to be quiet about it publicly and move on. Like Barca and Luis Enrique didn't linger, when Messi refused to come off for a few meaningless minutes in a game already won.

Enrique plays down Messi 'refusal'

This being England and Chelsea, I don't think they can suppress the interpretation that he wanted Caballero in for the shootout and then they lost the shootout, regardless of whether or not that was Kepa's fault. I'm just saying what I think the best compromise would be given the overall context and circumstances, obviously every situation is different and this is obviously not the first time ever a player has refused to come off despite what people are saying

 

[Evilo]

He's fined. A week fine in fact.
So it's a miscommunication but apparently not so much

 

[Chimaera]

There’s a slight difference in Messi saying he doesn’t want to come off and Kepa doing it.

Maybe not objectively, but in reality, Messi gets much more rope.