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Kepa Arrizabalaga admits player & manager turnaround is ‘costing’ Chelsea.
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has acknowledged that the team’s performance this season has been negatively impacted by the significant turnover in both players and coaching staff.
In a season in which Chelsea has spent a record amount on transfers to recruit a sizable number of new players, current manager Frank Lampard is the fourth to lead the squad, whether temporarily or otherwise.
The turbulence off the field has affected Chelsea, who are now 11th in the Premier League, and their tenuous chances of winning the Champions League following a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid in the first leg of the quarterfinal match, which might have been much worse.
After that game in Spain, in which the Blues finished with 10 men after Ben Chilwell was sent off, Kepa acknowledged that handling the activity behind the scenes had not been simple.
“There have been three changes of coach, there have been changes in the squad during the season and it is costing us,” Kepa acknowledged.
After the game, Lampard was adamant about finding the positive; he said Chelsea had their chances and still had time to make things right; but, Kepa was unafraid to point out the scale of the task before the Blues.
“We leave with the feeling that they have been superior, it has cost us a lot to play in the opposite half and to create chances,” he said. “It could even have been worse after the expulsion, because 30 minutes with one less [player] at the Bernabeu in the Champions League is a lot.
“They have had more chances, we have a lot to improve for the second leg. The feeling is that we are not at our level, we look at ourselves and the players are the first to be responsible.”
Chelsea’s next match is against Brighton on Saturday before hosting Real Madrid for the second leg of the quarterfinal.