‘I promise to make it difficult for him – Kepa reveals why he wants to makes things hard for Tuchel after latest decision
Chelsea’s first choice goalkeeper signing Kepa Arrizabalaga has lost his place in the team since the club went out to sign Edouard Mendy from Rennes last summer.
Mendy has done well in goal, and the Senegal international is being hailed as one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the moment.
Kepa has admitted that he’s not comfortable as second choice goalkeeper and has vowed to give his best, to always be ready, fight for his place and ensure the manager has a hard decision to make.
“It’s very important, you have to be ready. You have to be ready for yourself, you have to be ready for the team, also because it’s your job to be ready always, no?,” he said.
“It’s not easy when you’re not playing, everybody wants to play, but the best way I’m trying to do it is push every day hard. Just push yourself every day in the training and be positive. I know sometimes it is not easy, but you have to be very strong mentally.
“When I have the opportunity, like in the cups, or like I did in the league against Tottenham, when I come in I do my best to take the opportunity and give everything to make the manager have a hard decision.
“I think we have high quality here in all the positions. We have a very good squad. Every game, on the bench, there are big players, lots of internationals, but it’s what we need.
“I think we will have a lot of games, hopefully, during the season. We will have to be ready, everybody, because everybody will have their moment and we need that. We need everybody being pushed hard in training, pushing each other, and I think we are doing that.
“We have a good atmosphere in the team. Obviously everybody wants to play and everybody wants to play every Saturday, but it’s also important to accept the manager’s decisions, to keep pushing and to be ready to take the opportunity when you have it.”
Kepa’s mentality is a nice one, knowing that Mendy will be out for possibly a month during the African Cup of Nations in January.