The attitude of Kepa, the goalkeeper of Chelsea, after the coach Maurizio Sarri had decided to sub him off, made the club punish him. The player refused to leave the pitch during the final of the English League Cup, against Manchester City. But, more than just a fee, he could actually be out of the team for the next match Chelsea will play.
The fee given by The Blues, that was about one week of his salary, may not be the only consequence of his acts. This Tuesday, during an interview, the head coach Maurizio Sarri said that he may let the goalkeeper out of the match against Tottenham, on the following day.
“I need to send a message to my group, no matter if Kepa will be on the pitch or outside it. I have to decide what is better for my group. I don’t know, I have to decide if yes or if no. It will be a decision of the group, all the players. He made a mistake, and there are some consequences. If he plays, he will need to be ready, and if he stays on the bench, also”, said the Italian.
At that time, after the medical team entered the pitch to take care of Kepa during the extra time, the goalkeeper was supposed to leave the pitch and give place to Caballero. With the refusal of the player, Sarri had an explosive reaction and even thought about leaving the pitch after that rude attitude of the keeper, what just got worse after the defeat on the penalties by 3-4.
“It was an unusual situation, all the players were very shocked. It was impossible acting immediately. I spoke with Kepa, I spoke with everyone. He said to the staff he was sorry, but it was not enough. So he said to the players and the club that he was sorry. We don’t want to kill him”, explained Sarri.
The fact was that Kepa didn’t obey his coach and, even though it may not have been his fault, everybody had the big question on their minds: “If Caballero had played, would Chelsea have won the match?”