Arno Michels insists Chelsea star has come a long way; ‘can’t promise’ positive outcome on late injury
Chelsea coach Arno Michels waxed lyrical about Kepa Arrizabalaga after another vital contribution, though was left sweating over a late Mason Mount injury.
Chelsea survived an almighty scare when squeezing past Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup Fourth Round. Macaulay Gillesphey put the League One outfit ahead after just eight minutes, though Cesar Azpilicyeta equalised before half-time with a clever flick.
But despite picking a strong eleven, Chelsea couldn’t find a winner as extra time loomed.
Marcos Alonso settled the nerves when putting the Blues in front. However, with just three minutes of the extra half hour remaining, Plymouth won a penalty.
Penalty-saving specialist Kepa Arrizabalaga guessed correctly, however, saving the spot-kick to secure a narrow 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.
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Thomas Tuchel was absent from the match after testing positive for Covid-19. That put the responsibility on first-team coaches Arno Michels and Zsolt Low.
Tuchel in contact the “whole game” – Michels
Speaking in his post-match press conference (via Football London), Michels said: “We stayed in touch with him (Thomas Tuchel) the whole game.
“He was involved in the preparation and everything was clear what we wanted to do. We stayed in touch the whole time.
“We had 60 minutes where it could’ve been 3-1. We were a little unlucky with the crossbar and we scored, more or less, an own goal. That gave us some difficulty but the most important thing in the FA Cup is to go through and that’s what we did.”
Regarding Tuchel’s availability for the upcoming Club World Cup campaign, Michels admitted he couldn’t give a concrete answer at present.
“First of all, I do not exactly know what the situation is with Thomas when he will be back,” added Michels. “He has to follow the government rules and is in self-isoltation, so we are looking forward to the next days.”
On yet another stellar performance from Kepa, Michels said: “It’s not only about the penalty, it’s also about the performance.
“In the last matches, I’ve felt him very reliable in his game. His strength is to save penalties, he’s shown it a few times now. In training it’s hard to beat him and in penalty shootouts he has the ability to read the mind of what the player is going to do.
“We are very happy with Kepa and he deserves this trust because he is a fantastic guy. It is hard for him because Edou [Mendy] is playing very good, but Kepa is doing very good work and is an amazing guy. I am happy for him.”
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Michels on Lukaku form, Mount injury
Regarding under-pressure Romelu Lukaku, who again blanked versus Plymouth, Michels suggested trust and patience must be utilised.
“He’s working a lot for the team, doing lots of touches, but is a little bit unlucky,” said Michels.
“We try to put him [through], give him opportunities and we will keep on going like this because he is an important player for us. He is our striker so he also needs some trust in moments he doesn’t score.”
Chelsea were left sweating after Mason Mount was substituted late on after picking up an injury. Michels insisted the Blues won’t know the extent of the injury until “further exams” have been conducted.
“He felt an injury in extra time with this shot. He realised quick he felt pain and so we took him off,” added Michels.
“There will be further exams. Hopefully, it’s not too bad but I can’t promise what the situation is.”
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