Kepa Arrizabalaga

[deadrevelz]

Kepa hasn’t been that bad either.

De Gea was a bit dodgy in his first season. Let’s not rewrite history here.

A "bit dodgy" isn't the same as "piss poor". I knew he was going to be a top keeper for us even during that season. The media and rival fans used a couple of mistakes and continued that narrative for years after. I'm convinced some pundits don't actually watch that many full games of football.

 

[cyberman]

What constant comparisons? Not one Chelsea fan has ever compared him favourably and apart from the debate about the Spanish team selection i have never even seen them been mentioned in the same breath.

Its the go to quote on here every time someone mentions how he struggles..
But DDG struggled during his first season
The Spanish fans think he's better and want him in the national side..
They should never be mentioned in the same breath. It doesn't do Kepa any favours and we should wait and see how his form improves before a DDG type elevation is even in play.
DDG is a freak, even if we do believe the DDG was shit narrative. How many other foreign keepers struggled and became word class after moving to England?
I'm not even saying he's being compared favorably but it's clear to me that some of your fans thought he'd be just as good and that mindset is hidden behind the tenuous DDG links.

 

[VorZakone]

Literally every goalkeeper lets goals in like that now and again. People trying to paint him as a “fraud” for letting in the sort of goal that we’ve seen De Gea concede many times is ridiculous.

I'm just calling a spade a spade here. I don't think Kepa is a fraud, not at all. But he should have saved Pogba's header IMO.

 

[tenpoless]

Very good keeper
Very good keeper
Very good keeper,,

 

[VanHaal'sRedArmy]

To be fair, he's still developing. I remember when David had his share of struggles when he first arrived.

 

[ChaddyP]

He will improve DDG was piss poor when he first came over

He was not poor. He was already a world class shot stopper. He was just not used to being roughed up by the likes of Kevin davies style center forwards and the constant pumping of balls into the box. He was only 20 at the time as well. Not 24.

 

[Dancfc]

Its the go to quote on here every time someone mentions how he struggles..
But DDG struggled during his first season
The Spanish fans think he's better and want him in the national side..
They should never be mentioned in the same breath. It doesn't do Kepa any favours and we should wait and see how his form improves before a DDG type elevation is even in play.
DDG is a freak, even if we do believe the DDG was shit narrative. How many other foreign keepers struggled and became word class after moving to England?
I'm not even saying he's being compared favorably but it's clear to me that some of your fans thought he'd be just as good and that mindset is hidden behind the tenuous DDG links.

Spain natives want him in says more for how bad DDG is for Spain than anything stand out Kepa has done, if Cassilas was still playing at even half his prime ability or Canizares was still around both would be permanently on the bench with little chance of ever seeing competitive action. We do banter a bit about how Spanish natives prefer Kepa and if he becomes #1 it would be hilarious considering how DDG being the worlds best narrative is forced down our throats (even saying the likes of Neuer, MATS and Oblak are on his level/better gets treated like treason), but i highly doubt any of us rate Kepa higher or think he'll become as good, i have certainly heard no Chelsea fan even hint it.

As for the first season struggles, DDG will be a yardstick for any keeper, while i agree he wasn't as bad as portrayed, he looked a level below the best at the time like Cech, Reina, Hart (no matter how much a meme he is he now, he was incredible at the dawn of this decade).

 

[Keeps It tidy]

Why do people still talk about transfer fees as if there’s some objective logic to them. We’d all be so much better off if we just accepted that it’s all abitrary and meaningless.

Exactly

 

[Suedesi]

Kepa will only improve. He's a good keeper. The price tag isnt his fault, its how Bilbao operate.

It's Chelsea's stupidity for paying that. There are a number of other keepers that could have done a job. Chelsea have far more pressing needs at the moment.

 

[Minimalist]

Not sure people were being fair about Pogba’s goal. Overestimating the amount of keepers that save those.

 

[cyberman]

Exactly

That's not true though? They've wasted 400m over the last few years and these outrageous transfer fees will hold them back from having a massive overhaul next summer.
They've had to bring in a has been on loan in both January transfer windows to cover for the Morata disaster. I'd bet any money that if he were cheaper he would have been replaced by a permanent signing by now.
Kepa is the same. If he fails to improve then how much do they recoup? Who is out there now that could come in that they couldn't find before? It'll be another big money signing imo with the vast majority of 70m thrown out the window.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

It's Chelsea's stupidity for paying that. There are a number of other keepers that could have done a job. Chelsea have far more pressing needs at the moment.

Who could they have signed 3 days before the transfer window closed?

 

[Tommy]

Who could they have signed 3 days before the transfer window closed?

I'm sure we would've sold them Mignolet for half that price.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

That's not true though? They've wasted 400m over the last few years and these outrageous transfer fees will hold them back from having a massive overhaul next summer.
They've had to bring in a has been on loan in both January transfer windows to cover for the Morata disaster. I'd bet any money that if he were cheaper he would have been replaced by a permanent signing by now.
Kepa is the same. If he fails to improve then how much do they recoup? Who is out there now that could come in that they couldn't find before? It'll be another big money signing imo.

Players are not hard to move because of a big transfer fee they are hard to move if they have huge wages that no one else wants to pay.

 

[Revan]

And De Gea is one of the best shot stoppers of all time at the peak of his powers. De Gea let in worse ones than that early in his career, so very good goalkeepers definitely can.

To be fair, De Gea was excellent in his second half of the season here. In the first half he was hit and miss and made many mistakes, but in the second he was flawless.

Did you miss his first couple of seasons at United? Even he let in the odd one he shouldn't have in between the wonder saves.

In his second season, he was in EPL team of the year.

 

[roonster09]

Who could they have signed 3 days before the transfer window closed?

Tbf it was sort of open secret that Courtois was going to leave. They ended up in that situation because of poor planning

 

[RedDevil@84]

There is nothing to laugh about. The lad is just in his first season here. From what I heard/read, he hasn't been horrific in any way. He may or may not become good like De Gea, but De Gea is ancient. Back from the dark days when selling clubs didn't realize that there are extremely rich clubs who have an blank cheque book. Any comparison with De Gea prices is moot now.

 

[Revan]

There is nothing to laugh about. The lad is just in his first season here. From what I heard/read, he hasn't been horrific in any way. He may or may not become good like De Gea, but De Gea is ancient. Back from the dark days when selling clubs didn't realize that there are extremely rich clubs who have an blank cheque book. Any comparison with De Gea prices is moot now.

He will not become near as good as De Gea. At 24, De Gea was the second best keeper in the world after Neuer. At the same age, Kepa is not a top 5, probably not a top 10 keeper in the league.

Heck, a 20 years old De Gea might have been the best shot-stopper in the world. Like Buffon, De Gea has been a freak and not every half promising keeper will become as good as De Gea.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

Tbf it was sort of open secret that Courtois was going to leave. They ended up in that situation because of poor planning

It looked it was possible to keep him until Courtois did not show up for training a few days before the window closed.

 

[cyberman]

Players are not hard to move because of a big transfer fee they are hard to move if they have huge wages that no one else wants to pay.

Clubs give big money signings more time because they don't want to make a loss on the player in such a short period of time.
It's why the fees do matter.
Fred is another example. He'll be here longer than he should because Utd don't want to take a bath on the 50m and we may as well keep with him in case he does come good. Selling him in the summer would be at his at his lowest ebb so where's the risk?
If Morata / Lukaku / Fred etc were 30m players they wouldn't last as long. If Mkhi cost 60m he would still be a United player.

 

[roonster09]

It looked it was possible to keep him until Courtois did not show up for training a few days before the window closed.

Courtois said he informed before world cup that he wants to leave. They had plenty of time to prepare for worst.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

Clubs give big money signings more time because they don't want to make a loss on the player in such a short period of time.
It's why the fees do matter.
Fred is another example. He'll be here longer than he should because Utd don't want to take a bath on the 50m and we may as well keep with him in case he does come good. Selling him in the summer would be at his at his lowest ebb so where's the risk?
If Morata / Lukaku / Fred etc were 30m players they wouldn't last as long. If Mkhi cost 60m he would still be a United player.

Clubs do not want to give up on signings after one year regardless. There is always a chance they turn it around like Lindelof did this season.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

And guys he can still be a really good keeper even if he is never as good as De Gea.

 

[cyberman]

Clubs do not want to give up on signings after one year regardless. There is always a chance they turn it around like Lindelof did this season.

But they generally don't start every game like the big signings do? Which affects performances etc.
There's no way Fred should have started for us in September if he isn't deemed ready for English football 5 months later but his price tag got him into those 11s.
You also don't keep two big money number nines for a 4-3-3 since you need to finance moves such as 70m for a fecking keeper so it's Morata and nobody behind him. Its Kepa without a new fullback etc.
That's why the fees matter and explains why they try to cheap out with Drinkwater, Barkley etc around them to fill out the squad instead of recruiting genuine quality.
Rain or shine, Pulisic will start most games for the next 2 seasons and its due to wanting to fund other areas of the side.
Thats why the fees matter.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

But they generally don't start every game like the big signings do? Which affects performances etc.
There's no way Fred should have started for us in September if he isn't deemed ready for English football 5 months later but his price tag got him into those 11s.
You also don't keep two big money number nines for a 4-3-3 since you need to finance moves such as 70m for a fecking keeper so it's Morata and nobody behind him. Its Kepa without a new fullback etc.
That's why the fees matter and explains why they try to cheap out with Drinkwater, Barkley etc around them to fill out the squad instead of recruiting genuine quality.
Rain or shine, Pulisic will start most games for the next 2 seasons and its due to wanting to fund other areas of the side.
Thats why the fees matter.

They did not cheap out with Drinkwater. They spent 35 million on him.

 

[cyberman]

They did not cheap out with Drinkwater. They spent 35 million on him.

Thats both hilarious and frightening at the same time.

 

[Andycoleno9]

He doesn't save much. I can tell you that.

 

[fellaini's barber]

He let's in goals like Pickford

 

[Suedesi]

Who could they have signed 3 days before the transfer window closed?

That's the stupidity of the situation leaving it last minute in the first place and paying more than Liverpool paid for Alisson for example. That shows zero contingency planning, so they panicked and they just bought someone without knowing he'd be ready for the team and the league.

Assuming they got completely blindsided by Thibaut & Real Madrid during the transfer window, they could have tried to insert Navas in the transaction. Failing that, they could have gotten one of the PSG keepers on loan (Kevin Trapp or Areola) and given themselves time to properly scout a #1.

Other keepers they could have gotten in the summer that wouldn't have cost an arm and a leg and done a comparable job - Yann Sommer, Jack Butland, Pepe Reina, Lukasz Fabianski...

 

[Inter Yer Nan]

De Gea was nowhere near as bad as the media wanted us to believe and people still cling to. He made some mistakes at the age of 20, yes, but he was also making stunning saves often. The media just wanted him to go back to Spain because he was a United goalie and it forces the narrative how more difficult the league is. Was he the best in the world the way he's been the last 4 or 5 years? No, he wasn't but he was far better (and younger) than Kepa is currently.

 

[breakout67]

I love how De Gea dropping a few clangers over a season is being compared to Kepa making mistakes every few games.

Also newsflash, Kepa is 24 years old.

De Gea and Courtois were miles better at that age. Kepa has technical errors that are not going to go away (low diving technique that doesn't give a stable base for saving). He does however have excellent reaction times and is quite handy making diving saves in the air, also a good passer. A decent keeper and that's about it, you'd expect a world class keeper at Chelsea (Cech and Courtois) rather than a decent to good one.

 

[duffer]

I love how De Gea dropping a few clangers over a season is being compared to Kepa making mistakes every few games.

That's just not true.

 

[breakout67]

That's just not true.

It definitely is. Go back through all of his games and you'll find the same technical error popping up. It is simply more highlighted now because Chelsea are shipping goals galore. Karius had two major flaws with his saving, his hand positioning tended to drop the ball inwards and his judging of long shots was suspect, but Liverpool fans never admitted this until the CL final. I was a goalkeeper in youth football and so I notice things subconsciously (not that I was any good, but I learnt what to look out for).

Funnily enough De Gea's 1v1 technique is all over the place, but his exceptional footspeed and freakish reactions allow him to be glued to his line and give up too much of one side of the goal. He also has feints and misdirections that I only see a few keepers in world football doing (Neuer is amazing at feints and misdirections, but has a more traditional 1v1 technique).

 

[Rossa]

Kepa has the best passing stats for any goalie in the league right, so according to the ad he's the best goalie in the league, right?

His shot stopping leaves a little to be desired.

 

[Dion]

In his second season, he was in EPL team of the year.

Yes he was, and he also let in the odd one he shouldn't have.

 

[Dancfc]

It definitely is. Go back through all of his games and you'll find the same technical error popping up. It is simply more highlighted now because Chelsea are shipping goals galore. Karius had two major flaws with his saving, his hand positioning tended to drop the ball inwards and his judging of long shots was suspect, but Liverpool fans never admitted this until the CL final. I was a goalkeeper in youth football and so I notice things subconsciously (not that I was any good, but I learnt what to look out for).

Funnily enough De Gea's 1v1 technique is all over the place, but his exceptional footspeed and freakish reactions allow him to be glued to his line and give up too much of one side of the goal. He also has feints and misdirections that I only see a few keepers in world football doing (Neuer is amazing at feints and misdirections, but has a more traditional 1v1 technique).

Karius was dropping clangers all over the place, there's a few goals Kepa could have done better on granted (Pogba's wasn't one) but he has also still won us a lot of points this season and prevented a lot of defeats being even worse.

 

[charlenefan]

Agreed. It would have been a great save had he managed to keep it out. Thought his handling was pretty good for most of the game. It is easy to forget that he is a young keeper in his first season in the premier league. Many were ready to write DDG off after his first season.

FFS stop with the De Gea references

Not every Spanish keeper who has a dodgy start is going to turn into TBITW

 

[RochaRoja]

That's not true though? They've wasted 400m over the last few years and these outrageous transfer fees will hold them back from having a massive overhaul next summer.
They've had to bring in a has been on loan in both January transfer windows to cover for the Morata disaster. I'd bet any money that if he were cheaper he would have been replaced by a permanent signing by now.
Kepa is the same. If he fails to improve then how much do they recoup? Who is out there now that could come in that they couldn't find before? It'll be another big money signing imo with the vast majority of 70m thrown out the window.

There are so many factors in the agreement of a transfer fee that using it as a guide for a player’s worth is a pointless task. How much does the buying club have to spend? How open is the selling club to losing the player and how much would it cost them to find a replacement? How long is the player’s contract? What is the age of the player? What are the commercial benefits of signing the player? What percentage of the fee will the selling club have to give to former clubs? Is the transfer fee a guaranteed sum or is it paid based on the player and club achieving certain goals?

It’s not like Chelsea decided that Kepa is £20m better than Alisson and paid Athletic accordingly.

 

[charlenefan]

I can't remember if it was Butland or Pickford that the media were saying Chelsea were interested in before they signed Kepa but no ones going to convince me they'd be worse off with either of them

 

[cyberman]

There are so many factors in the agreement of a transfer fee that using it as a guide for a player’s worth is a pointless task. How much does the buying club have to spend? How open is the selling club to losing the player and how much would it cost them to find a replacement? How long is the player’s contract? What is the age of the player? What are the commercial benefits of signing the player? What percentage of the fee will the selling club have to give to former clubs? Is the transfer fee a guaranteed sum or is it paid based on the player and club achieving certain goals?

It’s not like Chelsea decided that Kepa is £20m better than Alisson and paid Athletic accordingly.

Chelsea didn't have to buy him? Your points have been aspects of football for decades now. If a player isn't worth 70m then don't spend 70m on him.
Its not that complicated.
Maybe Chelsea will have 3 loan players in their first 11 next year then fans will realise why fees still matter.