Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has been told he has made it too ‘easy’ for Graham Potter to drop him in place of Kepa Arrizabalaga this season.
The Senegalese no.1 began the 2022/23 campaign as first-choice between the sticks for the Blues under Thomas Tuchel, starting their first six Premier League matches, yet he has failed to make a single appearance since the German was sacked in early September.
A recurring knee injury didn’t help Mendy’s case upon Potter’s arrival at the club, but former Chelsea defender William Gallas believes he has made life difficult for himself due to his previous mistakes in the early part of the season.
Speaking to Genting Casino , Gallas said: “When you play you have to be good, don’t give the opportunity to the manager to put you on the bench.
“Don’t make mistakes, when you do one or two mistakes it’s easier for the manager to put you on the bench. Unfortunately, Mendy made some mistakes and that’s why Potter has picked Kepa over him.”
Since arriving in west London for £22million from Rennes in September 2020, Mendy quickly became Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper as he totalled 93 appearances across his first two seasons at the club.
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The 30-year-old has played a huge role in Chelsea’s Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup success and kept an impressive 48 clean sheets across the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns.
However, Mendy failed to keep a clean sheet in five of Chelsea’s first six Premier League fixtures this season. Unfortunately for the Senegalese, he was at fault for a number of those goals - most notably being dispossessed by Brenden Aaronsen for Leeds United’s opener in August’s 3-0 defeat, leaving the American to tap into an empty net.
In fairness, a recurring knee injury ruled him out of Potter’s first two games in charge of Chelsea against RB Salzburg and Crystal Palace but his previous mistakes, along with Kepa’s form, has quickly made up the new manager’s mind.
But Gallas was also quick to praise Kepa for his remarkable revival under the former Brighton & Hove Albion boss since being handed an opportunity to impress, with a man of the match performance against Aston Villa last weekend the standout display.
He said: “I have to applaud Kepa. What he’s done is unbelievable. As a goalkeeper it’s really difficult to get the opportunity to play when you are second choice, it’s not like other positions, where even if you’re on the bench you’ll always get opportunities.
“For the goalkeeper, it’s harder so that shows how strong he is, how professional he was. Even when you are second choice, you can’t give up. A lot of players give up when they know they are second choice. A lot of them give up, they don’t train properly so he’s shown everyone what you have to do.”
