2 hours ago, Imran_CFC said:

I really feel sorry for him and I don't think he can turn it around like De Gea did when he arrived in the league, DDG actually showcased elite shot stopping potential even in his early days. A lot of his errors early on came from set pieces and when players muscled him in the box whereas with Kepa there is not a single area (Maybe with the exception of his sweeping skills) that he has shown even a reasonable amount of competency. He doesnt possess organisation and leadership skills, he isn't commanding in the box, his positioning is terrible, his shot stopping is worse and his wrists are weak.

I think the club will need to bite the bullet on this one and stop looking for something that just isn't there.

Agreed with all that except the first part, I don't feel sorry for him. He ruined all that by his behaviour in the cup final. 

1 hour ago, bluedave said:

We used to say "mince" where I grew up (east Kent). I think it's a fitting adjective for Kepa at the moment.

Out of interest, I checked his market value on transfermarkt.com and I'm surprised he's still (supposedly) valued so highly. It baffles me how we ever considered him to be worth €80 million.

 

Below is the bit of Transfermarkt I find fascinating ... they had him as worth £18M when we paid that huge £72M fee ... 🙂

 

Cannot speak for the majority but Kepa lost a lot of goodwill for me with the whole league cup behavior.

His poor goalkeeping after that only heightened it. 

Imo once we sign Mendy I doubt he can be any worse than Kepa so I would look to sign a number 2 like Tim Krul or Ben Foster and loan Kepa to whoever will play him and hope he does enough to earn a move away. 

Even if all we get is 15mill transfer fee next season getting his wages off the books would be enough of a saving imo.

Usually when there is a dodgy keeper you can always say ‘he’s a good shot stopper but....’ or he’s a good leader. 
 

Kepa cannot save long shots, he’s poor in the air and his defence don’t trust him. There’s literally nothing positive about him except he’s decent enough with the ball at his feet. 

Kepa may be the perfect example of the peter principle, he has risen to his level of incompetence and it may have completely broken him. A club like Bilbao, where the expectations are not that of Chelsea, he cold thrive and have confidence in himself because he isn't on a squad that has continuous expectations to not only make the champions league, but also win every competition they enter. 

He may just be mentally fragile enough that a run of bad games causes him to never be the same again. I really hope he can turn it around and can start playing with confidence in himself, because he isn't as bad as he has played - I don't think at least. But, that goal he let in yesterday didn't do him any favors, that's for sure. 

To be in contention to play this Sunday a new keeper needs an agreement between CFC  and the selling club completed, personal terms agreed, a medical, get registered with the league and train several times (goalkeeping is probably the position that could get away with the fewest sessions to prepare for a new team), this feat even as of today seems highly unlikely. Throw in the same 4 CBs to choose from in front of the keeper and Sunday’s match could be rather long. 
 

 

8 hours ago, General said:

To be in contention to play this Sunday a new keeper needs an agreement between CFC  and the selling club completed, personal terms agreed, a medical, get registered with the league and train several times (goalkeeping is probably the position that could get away with the fewest sessions to prepare for a new team), this feat even as of today seems highly unlikely. Throw in the same 4 CBs to choose from in front of the keeper and Sunday’s match could be rather long. 
 

 

If Kepa plays on Sunday, we lose. Put in any back 4 you want. We would be playing with ten men from the off. 

Unfortunately rennes must know this and are taking their sweet time. 

1 hour ago, bisright1 said:

If Kepa plays on Sunday, we lose. Put in any back 4 you want. We would be playing with ten men from the off. 

Unfortunately rennes must know this and are taking their sweet time. 

That is a little bit OTT, for me.

Liverpool will be favourites regardless of whom we currently play in goal, they are EPL champions.

Agree we will be stronger with a better keeper.

1 hour ago, bisright1 said:

If Kepa plays on Sunday, we lose. Put in any back 4 you want. We would be playing with ten men from the off. 

I'd be surprised if our defenders don't hate the guy by now. They can play as brilliant as they want as Zouma & Christensen did against Brighton and yet there was no chance for a clean-sheet since Kepa can't save a thing.

Not to mention that knowing your goalie is Kepa surely panics and hightens anxiety for any player in our team.

2 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

That is a little bit OTT, for me.

Liverpool will be favourites regardless of whom we currently play in goal, they are EPL champions.

Agree we will be stronger with a better keeper.

Favourites, yes of course. Regardless of what keeper is in the team. I would say only slight favourites though.

But they are certain to win with Kepa in the team. They knew how to beat us at Anfield last season and that is why they did. The answer? Take shots from outside the box and swing in corners onto the 6 yard line because Chelsea are playing without a goalkeeper. 

 

Biscuit wrists won't start against Victimpool surely not...

Frank hasn't been afraid to drop him before and I reckon he will now.

I dislike him Intensely that disgraceful behaviour in the cup final saw to that, it's been compounded by his sh*te performances ever since. And if I may be so bold EB he's proper mince..lol

Edited September 16, 20205 yr by chelseablueboy

It's a shame because he played quite well against them when we beat them in the FA Cup last season. Maybe a game of this importance might help spark that form, I doubt it but you never know. I personally feel he wasn't fully at fault against Brighton as there were a lot of bodies around the box, and it was right in the corner.

Mendy still can't join an sooner though.

We should have signed a new keeper first. Starting a new season with Kepa in goal is like having to start with a point deduction.

Don't really rate Caballero, but under the circumstances, I'd go with him against Pool.

Mendy is a done deal, just a matter of what day he'll arrive now.

On 15/09/2020 at 11:10, axman2526 said:

Cannot speak for the majority but Kepa lost a lot of goodwill for me with the whole league cup behavior.

His poor goalkeeping after that only heightened it. 

Imo once we sign Mendy I doubt he can be any worse than Kepa so I would look to sign a number 2 like Tim Krul or Ben Foster and loan Kepa to whoever will play him and hope he does enough to earn a move away. 

Even if all we get is 15mill transfer fee next season getting his wages off the books would be enough of a saving imo.

Would Kepa agree to any transfer when he is going to be going someplace and earning less money?  

As an American you will have to help me out with this because I may not understand the business end of this as well as others.  But it seems to me that Kepa's contract is guaranteed right? (he gets all the money on the contract as long as he's willing to play).  He's getting big money from CFC.  If he transfers the team that buys him is not going to sign him to nearly as big of money as CFC paid him.  Therefore it seems like it's in his interest to stay to get the money he's guaranteed from CFC or force CFC to release him and essentially pay him to go away.

 

 

Now that he is pretty much done one might ask himself why the hell did we tolerate his behavior in that final? 

41 minutes ago, Valpo said:

Would Kepa agree to any transfer when he is going to be going someplace and earning less money?  

As an American you will have to help me out with this because I may not understand the business end of this as well as others.  But it seems to me that Kepa's contract is guaranteed right? (he gets all the money on the contract as long as he's willing to play).  He's getting big money from CFC.  If he transfers the team that buys him is not going to sign him to nearly as big of money as CFC paid him.  Therefore it seems like it's in his interest to stay to get the money he's guaranteed from CFC or force CFC to release him and essentially pay him to go away.

 

 

In theory you're right, and we quite regularly see examples of clubs having difficulties unloading players or players staying at clubs not because they're wanted but because no one else is willing to match their wages.

But professional football at the top level is not like most other businesses, and players aren't like most other successful businessmen working at top companies and making lots of money, despite obvious similarities. Like in Kepa's case, yes, he can stay and spend another four years of his guaranteed contract at Chelsea but would he really want to, if he's told he has no future at the club and ends up being a second or even third option with an occasional domestic cup appearance here and there? Money is important, but for all his faults, I'm fairly sure Kepa still has ambition and pride, like most players he's very competitive and wants to play and, if possible, win trophies. Sitting on a bench and collecting a fat pay cheque may seem like dream case scenario to most people but if you're driven by success like most professional athletes, you wouldn't want to spend the best years of your short career in a place where you're not wanted.

Edited September 17, 20205 yr by abramovich

Starting again today, hope he doesn’t make a mistake that costs Chelsea points ...........

1 hour ago, General said:

Starting again today, hope he doesn’t make a mistake that costs Chelsea points ...........

Absolute shi*

I don’t care how much he cost, write off the £70m and put him in reserves. I really don’t care, I just don’t want to see him again. Ever. 

Well... I guess he tried...

Not that anyone is surprised of what he brought. 

As long as someone got his back at the top of the club he is not going anywhere. Lampard already tried to freeze him and got scolded. Don't expect that to change after 1 mistake. The plebs in charge now. 

Edited September 20, 20205 yr by Droopy

Only positive I can say is that at least he didn't completely crumble afterwards and made a few good saves and still came and caught some balls into the box.

13 minutes ago, Droopy said:

As long as someone got his back at the top of the club he is not going anywhere. Lampard already tried to freeze him and got scolded. Don't expect that to change after 1 mistake. The plebs in charge now. 

Yeah you got to wonder if someone told Frank he needs to play. Why would he be back otherwise after getting dropped for Willy at the end of last season?

I am so done with him. Astonishing that he keeps on getting chances despite his uselessness. Send him to the development team and take away his keycard to the first-team facilities.

3 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Only positive I can say is that at least he didn't completely crumble afterwards and made a few good saves and still came and caught some balls into the box.

I think he had a pretty good game, by his standards, apart from that error.