Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has come out to debut the claims that he gambled on bringing in Kepa Arrizabalaga during the last minute of the game. After a 1-1 draw in the playing time, they head into the extra time before Kapa was introduced two minutes before the end of the extra time.
Chelsea was the first to find the back of the net through Hakim Ziyech in the first 27 minutes of the game before Villarreal came back into the game in the second half of the game through Moreno. The game ended 1-1, and they were forced into the extra time.
Thomas Tuchel Debunks Idea of Him Gambling with Kepa
Football fans said Thomas Tuchel gambled the game by bringing in Kapa Arrizabalanga, who is said to be a flop. Tuchel said the keeper is the best in terms of penalties. Kepa proved him right as he saved Villarreal’s two penalties to give Chelsea the Super Cup trophy.
Kepa saved Villarreal captain Raul Albiol’s decisive kick to clinch a 6-5 shootout victory in Belfast as Chelsea won the trophy. Recall that in February 2019, Kepa sparked controversy when he infamously refused to come off when then-manager Maurizio Sarri wanted to replace him for a Carabao Cup final shootout.
Thomas Tuchel said: “We had some statistics that we prepared, and they showed that Willy Caballero is the best in penalty defending, and they analysed like a thousand penalties from Willy. The second best was Kepa, and the third-best was Edou. The analysis and goalkeeper coaches introduced me to the data. We spoke to all three goalkeepers very open and told them this could happen in knockout games.
“If we have a change left that we make this change, not for personal reasons but to help the team, to improve the chances as we have this proof off statistic. It’s fantastic Edou accepts it. He puts his ego to one side when we take this decision, and he is aware of why we do this. This is the key. He knows it’s not a sudden idea of the manager.
