Frank
Lampard says he is "very happy" with Kepa Arrizabalaga but Gary Neville
criticised his performance and says Chelsea will not win a league title with
the Spaniard.
Leandro Trossard's 54th-minute equaliser from outside the area wriggled
under the outstretched hands of Kepa, once again raising questions over
whether he should remain as Chelsea's No 1.
The club are reportedly close to agreeing a deal to sign goalkeeper Edouard
Mendy from French club Rennes, but Lampard backed Kepa following the
Brighton win.
He told Sky Sports: "I am very happy with Kepa. With the shot, I'm not sure
if he could have done any better but I saw a bit more confidence in how he
was playing. Kepa is here, he is our 'keeper and I am happy with him.
"If we are bringing in competition it will be competition. That's the nature
of Chelsea. That goes through the squad, so we'll see."
When asked if any more new signings are on the way, Lampard added: "Not at
the moment. There are obviously some weeks to go until the end of the
transfer window.
"We've got a big squad now as well so we have to manage that and look at how
we move forward in terms of getting the right level of competition within
the squad, but no news on that one at the minute."
Neville: No top goalkeeper, no league
title
Sky Sports' Gary Neville told Monday Night Football:
"I don't think he is [happy with Kepa]. I wouldn't be but yet I know full
well, having been in a coaching position, been in a changing room, you have
to back your goalkeeper. You must back your players, you have to support
them publicly but privately that goal, it's a really poor goal to give away.
"He conceded so many goals from outside the box last season, he's conceded
another one tonight and it will cost you. If you don't have a top
goalkeeper, you won't win that league.
"At this moment in time he makes far too many mistakes. He lets too many
goals into the back of his net that should be saved. 19 goals conceded from
outside the box - that is a sorry story for a £70m goalkeeper.
"A few years ago, I used to be quite critical of Loris Karius and Simon
Mignolet. 50 goals a season but as soon as Alisson came everything became
normal. It was the same at Manchester United in my time when we had that
period between Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar. As soon as Van der
Sar came, it became normal.
"Same with Manchester City in Pep Guardiola's first season. Claudio Bravo
kept letting goals in from everywhere and the save to shots ratio was poor.
As soon as Ederson comes in, everything becomes really normal.
"If you don't have you goalkeeper right you are going to massively struggle
to get where you need to get to. You certainly will never win a league.
"You will not win a league with a goalkeeper who is letting goals in from
outside his box, doesn't dominate his area and concedes goals from set
pieces. It isn't going to happen.
"It's a stark warning. Frank Lampard knows this. He's played in
championship-winning teams, he knows what he needs to do, he doesn't like
the goalkeeper, he wants him out and he's going to bring a new one in
because he knows Frank Lampard will be sacked as a manager if he doesn't win
the league in the next two or three years.
"He's spent £200m so he's got to do it. Pep did it, Jurgen Klopp did it and
Sir Alex Ferguson did it.
"Every manager of any salt will be harsh. He's got to be ruthless and do it
for himself because that £70m, he wants to look after the club's money, he
wants to try and get it back, but unfortunately, it's gone."
'Chelsea need an Ederson or Alisson level
goalkeeper'
Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher told Monday Night Football:
"Edouard Mendy has certainly got better numbers than Kepa. Unfortunately for
Kepa, some of his numbers are the worst in the league.
"Whoever you bring in, it looks like it's going to be better. It's just
whether you are talking about Ederson or Alisson level, and that's the level
you need.
"Teams who win leagues, there is always a position the next summer, even
when you've won the league, that you think you can improve. I can't ever
remember a team, going back to the mid-80s, who won the league with an
average goalkeeper.
"I go back to Neville Southall, David Seaman at Arsenal, Peter Schmeichel
coming in the early 90s and Petr Cech. That Chelsea side had a lot of money
spent on it but when Jose Mourinho came in, Cech came in and they just won
leagues.
"It was the same with Liverpool and Manchester City. It will never change.
"If they bring Mendy in, is he at the level of the goalkeepers we are
talking about? It's not just about being better than Kepa, that's not
enough. It's got to be at the level of Ederson and Alisson, that's where
Chelsea are."
Lampard pleased with Werner, Havertz
debuts
Lampard was pleased with Timo Werner and Kai Havertz on their Premier League
debuts, with the former in particular impressing, winning a penalty for
Chelsea in the 21st minute.
The head coach believes the German's display was only a glimpse of what he
can do, telling Sky Sports: "I love the way that Timo pops up in different
areas.
"He's not a frontman who attaches to centre-backs so much. Sometimes he can
start from a little bit deeper, but when he goes, he goes. We saw that with
the burst of pace for the penalty, because I think the ball was slightly
over-played and he still gets there.
"He has that about him and a real hunger to score goals and be ruthless in
that area. I thought we saw a lot of signs from Timo tonight of what he's
going to bring."
Havertz had a quieter evening on the south coast, having only trained with
Chelsea for around a week, but Lampard was satisfied with what he saw.
"I liked Kai Havertz. It's not a game where you come away with some vintage
moments, but I thought there moments of quality and calmness," he said.
"It's a big ask, there's a lot on his shoulders because of the signing that
he was and that he's a youngster coming to a different league, but you saw
glimpses of what he can do. You also saw him sprint back 80 yards to make a
defensive tackle having given the ball away.
"So, everything I have seen from him in terms of his character is spot on
and his quality will come through. We're going to see a lot more from him,
he's hugely talented young player."
'We want to close gap on Liverpool'
Up next for Chelsea is the visit of Liverpool to Stamford Bridge on Sunday,
live on Sky Sports, and Lampard says they are aiming to close the gap on the
Premier League champions, who finished 33 points ahead of the Blues last
term.
He said: "The difficulty for all of us, but particularly us, is we found
ourselves so far behind Liverpool, because of the way they took on the first
half of last season, that you were almost in a race that is far removed from
being for first.
"We definitely want to close that gap to Liverpool, we have to have
intentions, ideas that we are going to be up and around it, even though it
is a big ask to win the Premier League.
"Liverpool and Manchester City have worked for a while to get teams that are
full of individual talent and have a real team collective. We are behind in
that process, it's step by step for us. The result against Brighton is a
good feeling for us because it wasn't a great performance, but we've got the
three points.
"If we get those points early, the confidence builds, there's more time to
work with the team, players come back from injury and the new signings
settle in, and hopefully we can make big strides.
"I won't make any big commitments now, but we certainly want to close that
gap."
Potter: Lots of positives for Brighton
At times, Brighton were the better side during the Amex Stadium clash and
had their fair share of chances and, overall, manager Graham Potter was
pleased with what he saw.
"From our perspective, we performed quite well in the game. There are lots
of positives for us in terms of the overall game, but we're disappointed to
concede three goals," he told Sky Sports.
"I thought in the first half, we were probably the better team. We got the
equaliser and were probably on the front foot, then the second goal is a bit
of a blow. We had a good chance at 2-1 as well and it's just those fine
little margins that ultimately against the big teams, you need to turn in
your favour if you want to get a positive result.
"So in the end, we're happy with lots of things but disappointed with the
three goals against and no points."
There was also an eye-catching performance from former Chelsea youth product
Tariq Lamptey, with Potter adding: "Lamptey was fun to watch, I imagine.
Such energy, such personality and his enthusiasm for the game is just
wonderful. He's been like that for us since he came, he's still young and
still has lots to learn but his approach to football is refreshing."
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