'No worries and no regrets' - Thomas Tuchel happy with decision to replace Edouard Mendy with Kepa Arrizabalaga
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Published 27/02/2022 at 21:13 GMT
Chelsea tasted an agonising penalty shootout loss at the hands of Liverpool in the final of the Carabao Cup final. One of the big talking points was the German coach's decision to replace Edouard Mendy with Kepa Arrizabalaga for the penalties at Wembley on Sunday. It did not pay off, but Tuchel has no regrets.
Chelsea's German head coach Thomas Tuchel (R) substitutes Chelsea's French-born Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy (L) for Chelsea's Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in the last minutes of extra time during the English League Cup final football match
Image credit: Getty Images
Thomas Tuchel has said he had no regrets over his decision to replace Edouard Mendy with Kepa Arrizabalaga for Chelsea’s penalty shootout loss to Liverpool in the final of the Carabao Cup.
With the game locked at 0-0 heading into the final minute of extra-time, Tuchel took off Mendy - who had performed brilliantly during the course of 120 minutes - for Kepa.
The Spain international did not make a save in the shootout, and was left with his head in his hands as he fired his effort over the bar as the Reds won 11-10.
Tuchel’s decision was questioned on the back of Mendy’s brilliance at Wembley and the fact he helped his country win the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in a penalty shootout.
Despite the loss, Tuchel said he would make the same decision again.
"Football can be a brilliant game and it was a brilliant game, no worries and no regrets,” Tuchel told Sky Sports. "We gave everything and it was a brilliant match of football.
"You need a bit of luck, we scored three times, had big chances, they had big chances, It was a fair result all the way to have a draw.
"We did it before with Kepa, he is slightly better in penalty saving and that is why I made the decision.
“It is unusual all 11 players need to shoot, he took it a bit too quick.
“Sometimes these things can turn against you but you make them when they need to be made, not after when people can judge you.”
There were disallowed goals galore, with Romelu Lukaku’s a wafer-thin offside call - which the German questioned.
“The disallowed goal for Romelu is a very close call - there are bad feelings about this call,” Tuchel said.
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