Losing his spot under Frank Lampard, Kepa Arrizabalaga saw the arrival of Edouard Mendy replace him entirely as Chelsea’s number one goalkeeper.
The Spaniard will have been hoping that Thomas Tuchel’s arrival would give him more game time, but the German manager appears to have followed in his predecessor’s footsteps in trusting the Senegalese shot stopper with the major role in his team.
This, of course, has gone down well with most since Mendy’s performances have been admirable ever since his transfer from Rennes, and he’s certainly happy to be playing regularly.
He revealed as much in an interview with RMC Sport on Sunday, where he also explained how the managerial change affected the team.
He said: “As the manager said, he started from a blank slate, he’s trying to give game time to everyone, to give a chance to prove you can be part of the starting XI. To perform regardless of the time given, and I think that he wants to place in the group, that everyone is concerned and it’s not just words.
“Yes, the fact that I was a leader at Reims and at Rennes, when you arrive in a star dressing room with players who have won it all, it’s hard, but you know as well as I do, you do your talking on the pitch and you gain credibility through performances. I think I’m not someone who forces stuff. I have natural leadership, I think. It’s something that comes with time”.
Since his arrival from the Logue 1 side, Mendy has featured 26 times for Chelsea, conceded 18 goals and kept a remarkable 14 clean sheets.
While he was on the bench in the 2-0 win over Newcastle, he was returned in his spot between the sticks for the 1-1 draw against Southampton.
