Chelsea have had a remarkable rise under Thomas Tuchel in a short space of time, winning the Champions League and the Super Cup and are now one of the favourites to win the Premier League
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Petr Cech has gone into detail over Thomas Tuchel’s controversial plan to change goalkeepers during Chelsea’s Super Cup victory.
Both Edouard Mendy and Kepa Arrizabalaga are battling it out for the No. 1 spot at Stamford Bridge.
However, that spot is comfortably the former’s at the moment after a sensational rise to stardom since his £20m move from Rennes in 2020.
In his first season, the Senegal international helped the Blues to the Champions League title and winning the Goalkeeper of the Year award along the way.
He made 44 appearances in all competitions, keeping 25 clean sheets along the way – conceding just twice in the Champions League knockout stage against the likes of Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Manchester City.
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It has firmly kept Kepa out of the limelight, who has struggled since his world-record move from Athletic Bilbao where a number of errors have plagued his time at Stamford Bridge.
But the Spaniard got his chance to shine in the Super Cup final against Villarreal when the match went to penalties.
Tuchel decided to swap his goalkeepers for the shootout and it proved successful after Kepa saved the decisive spot-kick to hand Chelsea the trophy.
Eyebrows were raised when the German manager made the call but Blues chief and former goalkeeper Cech has explained the decision.
“In the Super Cup, Edou did his job during the game and then Kepa during the shoot-out,” the 39-year-old told Chelsea’s official website.
“This is something that we have to really appreciate because it just shows the strong unity within the team, that people respect decisions like that from the manager.
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“Edou was aware of the plan and he supported it with no hesitation, which just shows that the team comes first and then the players are really happy to win things together with everybody playing their part.
“It was a huge responsibility for everybody to make the decision, as well as the players stepping in, because it’s a big moment of the game.
“The manager had the idea since a long time ago so we talked about it and the team was ready for it.
“It always helps when people are not discovering a new situation but they know the plan and it just shows the manager trusts every single member of the team the same way and that the team is strong together.
“It’s always difficult for everybody to play because it’s a very competitive team with fantastic players in every position, including goalkeepers.
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“So you might not play every game as a player but it still doesn’t mean you are less important than everybody else.
“The Super Cup and the situation with the shoot-out proved that, as well as the start of the season where some people were coming late and were missing but the others stepped up.
“It’s the job of the whole squad to have a good start to the season and of course that’s been very positive for us.”
