Chelsea
goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga insists his refusal to be substituted in the
Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City was not a display of disrespect
to manager Maurizio Sarri.
Sarri attempted to replace Kepa with reserve goalkeeper Willy Caballero
ahead of the penalty shootout, with the Spain international appearing to
suffer from cramp in the closing stages of Sunday's defeat at Wembley.
However, Kepa refused to leave the field - causing a lengthy delay to the
match and prompting an angry reaction from Sarri, who stormed down the
tunnel before returning to the touchline shortly afterwards.
Kepa played on but was able to save only one penalty in the shootout, as
City claimed a 4-3 win to retain the Cup.
The former Athletic Bilbao player, who became the most expensive goalkeeper
in history when he joined Chelsea for £71.6m in August, insists his refusal
to leave the field was not an act of insubordination against Sarri.
"I know if you see it from outside, I don't know how it went out, it is not
the best image," Kepa told Chelsea's official website.
"I have spoken with the boss. I think it was misunderstood.
"I understand that on television, on social media, they're talking about
this but I am here to explain it, to say that it wasn't my intention to go
against the manager.
"We have spoken now, and I was only trying to say I'm fine. He thought I
wasn't fine. It was in tense moments, with a lot happening."
Sarri played down the incident after the match, describing it as a
"misunderstanding", and Kepa agrees with the Italian.
"In no moment was it my intention to disobey, or anything like that with the
boss," Kepa added.
"Just that it was misunderstood, because I had been attended to by the
medics twice, and he thought that I wasn't in condition to continue.
"It was two or three minutes of confusion until the medics got to the bench,
and they explained everything well.
"This was nothing to do with the problems I had this week, with [hamstring]
it wasn't that. And, well, it was misunderstood.
"Because he thought I couldn't continue, and - fundamentally - I was trying
to say that physically I was fine."
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