Frank Lampard explains decision to drop Kepa Arrizabalaga against Nottingham Forest
Posted by  badge Boss on May 13, 2023 - 05:28PM
Kepa Arrizabalaga returned to the bench for Chelsea’s game against Nottingham Forest (Picture: Getty)

insists Kepa Arrizabalaga did not deserve to be dropped for Saturday’s game against .

The club’s one-time record signing regained his position as the club’s No.1 earlier in the season and has started all seven games under Chelsea’s interim manager.

Kepa was in goal last weekend as finally returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth but was surprisingly relegated to the bench for the visit of Forest to Stamford Bridge.

Edouard Mendy, who had not played a competitive match since Senegal’s World Cup defeat to England back in December, made a rare start which was thoroughly merited as a consequence of his performances in training, according to Lampard.

He said: ‘It is an opportunity that I think for his part is well deserved from how he’s training.

Edouard Mendy returned to Chelsea’s starting line-up against Nottingham Forest (Picture: Getty)

‘We’ve got two very good goalkeepers here that have played for us and Kepa’s playing really well.

‘It’s certainly not an issue with Kepa but, for Edou, it’s good for him to play a game for us. He’s a top goalkeeper so that’s the decision.’

Chelsea have been linked with a £40million move for Inter’s Andre Onana and despite the lack of European football to offer, Lampard insists the Blues remain an attractive proposition for elite players.

‘Absolutely I would sign for Chelsea,’ he said. ‘There are a lot of great things about this club. ‘Form is temporary, quality is permanent’ is a good saying.

‘I can see fantastic intentions to take the club forward. A lot of big clubs go through this process in some way, shape or form, and the more successful you’ve been, the more headlines it gets when you come to that moment.

‘As an individual player definitely I would come here because it’s an incredible club. Sometimes it’s nice to be part of the process that takes a club where you want it to go. I think that’s an enticing thing as well. Rather than being parachuted in to somewhere that’s successful.’

.

 and .