Carabao cup final

[holdsteady]

I think the keeper genuinely had some kind of twinge which Sarri thought could impair him during the penalty shoot out.

There was only a minute or so of extra time left to play, so Sarri had to make a quick decision which was to replace Kepa. Sarri wasn’t planning on substituting Kepa for tactical reasons, he was doing it because he thought Kepa was injured.

Kepa upon seeing that the manager wanted to substitute him responded by not coming off as he felt he was alright to carry on, so this wasn’t a case of a manager wanting to substitute a player for tactical reasons. Having said that, no matter what Kepa thought, he should have come off or at least had the decency to speak to Sarri on the touchline.

Just a very unfortunate situation which should never have happened, which I think wouldn’t have if there was more time on the clock to go as Sarri/player could have seen if he was ok to carry on. Also, it was the second time he had gone down with a twinge/cramp etc.

There was a no win situation. If Chelsea had gone on to win the cup with Kepa being the hero then further questions would be raised about Sarri or like what happened, Chelsea lose with Kepa having missed an easy save etc. Also, this wasn’t about player power. I personally feel that there was something wrong with Kepa (twinge/cramp etc), but he wanted to stay on to see out the whole game and possibly be the hero for them in the penalty shoot out.

The whole situation was hyped up by the media because of Sarri’s current status. I wonder if the same reaction would have been if it was Pep Guardiola!

I don’t think the media have to do much hyping on this one, I watched a player refused to be substituted live on tv, whether he was injured or not it wasn’t his decision to make.

How much do you have to pay someone to follow a simple, reasonable instruction? Obviously more than £5 million a year.

 

[uptheus]

I don’t think the media have to do much hyping on this one, I watched a player refused to be substituted live on tv, whether he was injured or not it wasn’t his decision to make.

How much do you have to pay someone to follow a simple, reasonable instruction? Obviously more than £5 million a year.

What if a manager thought that Messi was injured to then find out he’s okay? Then Messi informs the manager that he’s ok to play on.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

What if a manager thought that Messi was injured to then find out he’s okay? Then Messi informs the manager that he’s ok to play on.

That's fine if the manager wants to keep the uninjured Messi on. But if the manager wants to sub him once he knows he is uninjured then the player should leave the pitch with as much grace as he can muster. Not just stay on and refuse to be subbed.

 

[NottsYellow]

Player power will only increase at Chelsea whilst they are under the 2 window transfer embargo.

 

[uptheus]

That's fine if the manager wants to keep the uninjured Messi on. But if the manager wants to sub him once he knows he is uninjured then the player should leave the pitch with as much grace as he can muster. Not just stay on and refuse to be subbed.

But he only wanted to sub him because he thought he was injured.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the player was disrespectful and should have gone off or at least gone and spoken to Sarri, that way he (Sarri) May have changed his mind.

 

[Oslernorth]

Where was the Captain in all this? Also Kepa's £75m price tag will surely be tarnished here. I know I'd want a hell of a lot more professionalism for that sort of money

 

[Jerome'SAle]

But he only wanted to sub him because he thought he was injured.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the player was disrespectful and should have gone off or at least gone and spoken to Sarri, that way he (Sarri) May have changed his mind.

Bullshit. Kepa has been timeswasting criminally all game and the "injury" was cramp. Hes a goalkeeper FFS! If Sarri thought it was a genuine injury...Christ there are no words

 

[uptheus]

Bullshit. Kepa has been timeswasting criminally all game and the "injury" was cramp. Hes a goalkeeper FFS! If Sarri thought it was a genuine injury...Christ there are no words

Why did Sarri want to take him off for then?

 

[Jerome'SAle]

Why did Sarri want to take him off for then?

Isn't it obvious?

If your man city heading into penalties would you rather face kepa, or a keeper with a reputation for penalties who knows your players inside out having played for you for years?

 

[uptheus]

Isn't it obvious?

If your man city heading into penalties would you rather face kepa, or a keeper with a reputation for penalties who knows your players inside out having played for you for years?

But he hadn’t even started getting Willy warming up until Kepa went down with cramp/twinge, so if he wanted to get him on beforehand, then you would have least thought he would have had him warming up/getting ready.

 

[tonyw]

The incident reflected badly on everyone.

Kepa for completely disrespecting his manager and being an overpaid, petulant prima donna.
Sarri for having lost the dressing room to the extent that a player will disrespect him in that way - at Wembley, no less - and none of that player's teammates will stand up to him and get him to do the right thing by his manager.

They both deserve to be offloaded immediately - although I suspect only Sarri will be.
With Chelsea unable to sign players for a year, ditching Kepa would leave them with Willy, a 40-year old Rob Green and a bunch of kids at the position.

 

[Jerome'SAle]

But he hadn’t even started getting Willy warming up until Kepa went down with cramp/twinge, so if he wanted to get him on beforehand, then you would have least thought he would have had him warming up/getting ready.

He went down twice. Willies out very quick for someone not ready.

 

[uptheus]

He went down twice. Willies out very quick for someone not ready.

Willy May have got ready very quickly, but he wasn’t preparing to come on e.g. as a tactical substitution. He only started getting ready when Sarri decided that Kepa could potentially be a risk in the penalty shoot out as he appeared injured as he’d gone down twice.

Like I said earlier, I think if Kepa has gone down earlier in the game e.g. not with only a minute left to go in ET, for the second time then Sarri may have waited to see if Kepa could have continued, but with only a minute to go and the penalty shoot out looming he felt he had to make a quick decision to replace Kepa. I mean, imagine if Kepa’s injury limited his movement for the penalty shoot out and Sarri hadn’t made the decision to take him off!!

But obviously after a Sarri had made that decision and Kepa was indicating that he was fine to carry on, it all got very awkward and very frustrating for Sarri.

 

[Gary Baldi]

The problem Chelsea have is the player power (same as Leicester). The fact Chelsea tried to wait out Conte and paying off his package, says they aren't fond of having many managers still on their pay roll. At some point, they need to remove the players and start afresh. They will never win another league title until they have good clear out.

It's not like the powerful players are that top player good any more, outside of Hazard

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Well Kepa has been fined one week's wages. That showed him!