There has been a big spotlight over Kepa Arrizabalaga and his Chelsea future over the course of the 2019/20 campaign.
The Spaniard has not had the best season, culminating in being dropped at the beginning of 2020 for number two shotstopper Willy Caballero.
Kepa won his place back in the side and just before the season came to a halt he recorded back-to-back clean sheets in the wins over Liverpool and Everton.
The 25-year-old was back in between the sticks for the Blues yesterday against Aston Villa, but he was unable to continue his clean sheet run going.
It would be very harsh to blame the Spain international for Villa’s goal, however. Kepa was horribly exposed by poor defending from a set piece, again.
Cesar Azpilicueta lost his man at the back post, and after Kepa made the original save, the defence in front of him stood still and watch Kortney Hause pounce and fire Villa into the lead.
While the focus has been on Kepa at times, you can’t really blame him for the goal.
The beauty of there being no fans in the stadium is that you could really hear the players speaking to each other and shouting their instructions.
One of the criticisms of Kepa from some has been around his leadership skills and his dominance in and around the box.
However, with the silence in the stadium, those fears should be allayed has you could hear how vocal the Spaniard is.
Throughout the first half (when Chelsea’s defence was closer to the press box), it was clear that Kepa was trying to keep his defence in check.
It was also interesting really listening to the way he would speak to his back line, and even the simple way of switching languages.
It is something that might get forgotten at times, but with Spanish full-backs and a German centre-back partnering a Dane, it might not always be the easiest to get your point across.
Kepa would speak to his full-backs in his native tongue, with the shout of ‘Marcos, abierto (open)’ when he wanted the defender to keep an eye on the attacker outside of him.
Meanwhile, for Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, he would bark his instructions in English, making sure they shifted from side to side when needed.
It is often the goalkeeper’s job to impose themselves and they are often the loudest players on the pitch.
But with Kepa the finger is often pointed at him for not playing that role, and that he doesn’t command a presence.
However, getting the chance to listen to him in an empty stadium, that doesn’t seem to be the case and Frank Lampard could trust him to show the leadership they need.
The same can’t always be said about the defence itself, and that remains a big issue for Lampard going forward.
