Frank Lampard's team have been crying out for a safe pair of hands in net, is 28 year old Edouard Mendy able to secure Chelsea's defence or will he be a flop at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea scramble for a worthy goalkeeper.
The Senegal international comes in with big expectations to fill the void left by Thibaut Courtois after Arrizabalaga's troubled time as number one. Free spenders Chelsea will be hoping that Mendy can hit the ground running as Kepa's mistakes quickly pile up and the need for a quality Goalkeeper becomes ever more apparent. The following will discuss whether or not he is the right man for the job and how does he stack up against current and former Chelsea keepers.
Edouard or Kepa, player comparison
It my be fair to say that the £71.6m Chelsea paid for Arrizabalaga only two years ago has not been worth it, the world record fee for a goalkeeper at a time was mind blowing as Thibaut Courtois pushed for a move to Real Madrid. Kepa's time at Chelsea has been one filled with drama and disaster, the 25 year old never managed to cement himself as one of the leagues best but did become well known for goalkeeping erorrs and a questioanble attitude.
Edouard however comes in off of the back of an excellent season with Rennes in Ligue 1 guiding his side to a third place finish qualifying for Europe's most elite competition the Champions League. At 28 Mendy comes in at his prime which is evident in the performances he put in during the 19/20 campaign which is exactly what Lampard needs, a goalkeeper who is ready to take responsibility and marshal the Chelsea defence.
So how does Mendy match up statistically? During the 19/20 league season Mendy played 24 times only missing 4 matches in Ligue 1, during this time he kept 9 clean sheets and only conceded a total of 19 goals. Rennes went on to concede the least amount of goals in the league with only 21 hitting the back of the net 3 of those coming with Mendy out with injury.
The Senegal number one proved himself to be a great shot stopper with a save ratio of 75.9% as he made 2.54 saves per 90. Compare this to one of the best in Ligue 1 Keylor Navas who after playing three games less than Mendy managed a lower save ratio 73.1% and higher goals conceded per 90 0.86. However Navas did concede less goals overall with 18 going in but this was for a stronger side in PSG and with three more league games played Mendy only conceded one more goal.
The real comparison is when comparing Edouard with Kepa which is where Chelsea would've been really trying to match up and find out who is the better player. Spoiler alert before we go any further the difference in performance between the two is staggering but not unexpected. In the 19/20 Premier League season Kepa conceded a total of 47 goals in 33 games conceding 1.42 goals per 90, this means that in nine more games than Mendy Kepa conceded 28 more goals though it can be argued in a much tougher league.
This still doesn't hide the fact that Kepa has been a disaster at Chelsea and especially last season with only 8 clean sheets in the league which is less than relegated Watford's keeper Ben Foster (9). It can be harsh to compare a player like Kepa who is playing in which is considered the toughest league in the world but he is playing in a considerably bigger team with much more expensive and talented players in front of him. There has also been some dramatic moments with Kepa like in Chelsea's Carabao cup final against Manchester City when he refused to be substituted for team mate Willy Caballero which left at the time Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri furious.
Chelsea will be glad to have someone with a cooler head on the pitch to avoid more embarrassing moments but also someone who is able to distribute the ball to the outfield players. Though Kepa has a higher pass accuracy in his own half than Mendy at 92% compared to 86.5% this can be down to Chelsea style playing out from the back so Arrizabalaga would have been making simpler shorter passes to the central defenders rather than playing it further up the pitch.
Edouard Mendy is very talented when it comes to playing the ball long into the oppositions half due to Rennes direct style of football. In 19/20 he had a pass accuracy into the opponents half of 41.9% with 16.25 long balls per 90, compared to Kepa's accuracy of 29.4% and 9.58 per 90. This could be good for Frank Lampard's side as it gives him a keeper who is capable of playing the ball to the forward line, this could allow players like Werner, Pulisic and Havertz the opportunity to quickly break from a goal kick .
Chelsea like many current Premier League sides look to pass the ball around and create chances through high intensity pressing play, being able to play more direct gives them a different way of creating an attack. Looking at the passing direction of the two keepers we see the same pattern with Kepa's passes going sideways 59% of the time and Mendy's going forward 61% of the time.
Thibaut Courtois, Chelsea's last great keeper how does Mendy compare?
The Belgium number one who left for Madrid was arguably Chelsea's best keeper in recent years since Petr ÄŒech, though the blues have seemingly failed to replace him with Kepa how does he match up to new signing Edouard Mendy? In Courtois last season as Chelsea number one he kept 15 clean sheets in 35 Premier League games during the 17/18 campaign which placed him only behind David de Gea and Ederson. Though Chelsea had a mixed season finishing 5th it was the campaign before when Chelsea won the title which was his standout season.
In Chelsea's outstanding 16/17 Premier League winning season, where the blues won the league by 7 points and arguably changed the way teams played football. Under Antonio Conte Courtois was a key part of the side which utilised a three at the back formation. Keeping the highest amount of clean sheets (16) Courtois played all but two of Chelsea's league games and established himself as one of the best keepers in the world. Though Chelsea had a solid defence with John Terry leading the line Courtois still had to make 68 saves in the League and saved Chelsea on many occasions.
Comparing Courtois last mixed bag season to Mendy's most recent performances we see that the Belgium international had a save ratio of 69.1% compared to Mendy's 75.9% saves ratio. Looking again at the passing range and direction of the goalkeepers the two are all but the same with 60% of Courtois passes going forward whilst 61% of Mendy's were also direct. The style of football under Conte wasn't even necessarily direct with the Italian's men playing from the back with David Luiz and Courtois was key in making sure the ball got to the back three.
Sideways passing can be critical in some situations but having a keeper like Courtois and now Mendy who is able to play it forward can be key in keeping the tempo of the game high, sideways passing is also often related to a lack of drive and urgency. Urgency is something Kepa seems to be lacking and as seen in the recent loss to Liverpool the Spanish keeper struggled to get the ball clear and played it directly ahead into the feet of Sadio Mane which resulted in an unnecessary goal.
Lampard will be hoping that it also won't take long for Mendy to settle in at Chelsea as having a quality player in goal is becoming an even bigger factor in the success of clubs. No longer is the keeper just another name on the team sheet with modern football ever changing the role is adapting and becoming more crucial.
We have seen in recent years that even the best sides struggle when the man between the posts is not good enough, Liverpool with Loris Karius and Manchester City with Claudio Bravo are all examples of such. Though Chelsea have not been aggressive again in the signing of a so called "world class" goalkeeper a cheaper much more educated option may prove good in the long run and at a relatively cheap £22m on a five year deal it seems like Lampard may have found his man.
Thanks for taking the time to read this report, any feedback would be appreciated and please follow me on the social media linked below to keep notified of future content.