Frank
Lampard has defended Kepa Arrizabalaga from "unfair" criticism just days
after dropping the goalkeeper from his Chelsea team for a third time.
Kepa's place was given to Willy Caballero for Chelsea's trip to West Brom on
Saturday - which ended in a 3-3 draw - following costly mistakes in the
Blues' first two Premier League games of the season.
Lampard previously replaced Kepa in favour of Caballero for a run of games
in February, as well as for their final three games of the 2019/20 season.
Chelsea also signed goalkeeper Edouard Mendy - who could make his debut in
Tuesday's Carabao Cup tie away to Tottenham, live on Sky Sports - from
Rennes last week, leading to suggestions Kepa may have played his last game
for the club.
However, Lampard was keen to defend the 25-year-old, saying: "I certainly
won't go to the point of saying he's played his last game for Chelsea.
"I think it's been a difficult time for Kepa - I know it and he knows it.
But we should certainly not jump to that conclusion.
"Also - and I felt quite strongly about this - we should understand that
Kepa is a young man. A lot of the spotlight on him I think has become
slightly unfair.
"I have to protect him because I know he's a good lad, playing with absolute
professionalism and trying to do the best he can."
'West Brom result not a reality check'
Lampard saw his Chelsea team concede three times inside the first half-hour
of the game during their draw at West Brom, but insists that should not
serve as a "reality check".
Individual defensive errors helped the Baggies to a 3-0 lead but Lampard -
who has signed seven new players during the window - says he believes his
side need more time to work together.
He explained: "It wasn't a reality check for me. It may be for some on the
outside. We should have won the game and would have won the game without
individual errors.
"In terms of our performance so far, it's clear - we have new players in,
some who haven't even taken part yet because of injuries. So we haven't had
time to train as a group.
"I'm very confident that the more that we work, we will improve. Any Premier
League game is going to give you big challenges, and West Brom gave us a
challenge."
Lampard adds to calls for handball changes
The most recent round of Premier League fixtures saw yet more controversial
refereeing decisions made in line with the new handball laws.
Steve Bruce - whose Newcastle side earned a point at Tottenham thanks to a
late penalty given against Eric Dier for handball - said the changes were
"nonsense", while Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson shared Bruce's view.
"I agree with both Steve Bruce and Roy Hodgson," Lampard said. "They've been
in this game longer than myself, but we're all in this game and we all
understand that when people jump in the box, your arms will naturally move.
"It's always been a difficult rule, maybe with a bit of a grey area. But in
idea of trying to find some clarity, we've actually gone the other way and
made it something that just doesn't feel right at all. I'd like to think
something can be done to change it."
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