Kepa Arrizabalaga waved off a sub and became a joke worthy of Chelsea’s season

At the end of extra-time in what was a pretty boring EFL Cup final between Manchester City and Chelsea, Maurizio Sarri attempted to substitute Kepa Arrizabalaga for Willy Caballero for the upcoming penalty shoot-out. Kepa had gone down twice with injuries in extra-time, and Caballero has a good reputation against penalties. Last year he stopped three against Liverpool in the League Cup final to win the title for Manchester City.

Rather than walk off the field, however, Kepa waved off his manager. Maybe Kepa went down as a way to waste time, and maybe Sarri thought Kepa was more injured more than than the keeper actually was. Either way, Kepa refused to be substituted. David Luiz came over to talk to him, Sarri threw a tantrum on the sideline, but the goalkeeper didn’t budge.

Kepa isn’t the first player to ever not want to be subbed off. It happens quite frequently in the game. But usually, the most that a player does is walk off angrily in protest, and throw their own tantrum once they’re on the bench. Some even go straight to the dressing room. No matter how defiant they are, most players in the end still respect the authority of the manager.

Kepa is a special case. He disregarded that managerial authority and, in turn, showed the limits of what a manager and a referee can really do in that situation.

Even if the fourth official had held up the numbers for Caballero to come on, if Kepa doesn’t want to come off, there’s not much anyone can do. Sarri couldn’t force Kepa off. The referee can consult with the manager and try to get play to resume as fast as possible, but the referee can’t force Kepa off, either. At the most, the referee can give Kepa a yellow card, and eventually send him off for unsportsmanlike conduct. But then that would have put Chelsea at a disadvantage with time left. None of Kepa’s teammates tried to force him off the field.

A similar incident occurred when Lukasz Fabianski refused to come off for Swansea against Tottenham Hotspur in 2017. Fabianski clashed with Vincent Janssen and appeared to be in pain for some time after, but when Paul Clement tried to initiate a change, and the fourth official signaled for it, Fabianski refused to leave the pitch. At that point, there was nothing Clement could do except either insist on the change to the point of having his goalkeeper sent off, or conceding to the player. Which he did. Fabianski would then go on to let in two more goals against Spurs as his team lost, 3-1.

Kepa met a similarly comical fate. After Sarri’s tantrum and the first round of penalties, with Chelsea’s Jorginho missing and Manchester City’s Ilkay Gündogan scoring, Kepa had a chance to bail his team out against Sergio Aguero’s weak penalty and, well ...

There are many problems with refusing to be substituted — the most urgent being the defiance of the manager’s authority and unwillingness to participate in the spirit of the game — but not least among them is how the player reckons with his hubris.

Kepa, like Fabianski before him, wanted to play the hero. His refusal to be substituted hinged on the idea that he was capable of helping his team win, even against his manager’s tactics. It was a show of supreme self-confidence in the face of reason and logic. If Kepa had saved a few penalties and Chelsea won, he would have been exalted as brave and courageous — an example of believing in our own ability and fighting through potential injury. When Daniel Subašić refused to be subbed off and made critical saves for Croatia in the World Cup, he was heralded for his brilliant and passionate performance. Even the very manager who wanted to take Kepa off might have praised him if his team had succeeded. In victory, everything is easily forgiven.

But playing the hero also means taking on the risk of failure and embarrassment. Arrogance can often masquerade itself as self-belief. In Chelsea losing, Kepa has become a laughing stock. He’s also put his Chelsea career at risk — at least, as long as Sarri is still there.

After the match, Kepa tried to clear the confusion around the incident by saying that he was only letting the manager know that he wasn’t injured, rather than refusing to come off. However, his manager’s reaction on the touchline showed that the situation was much bigger than a simple misunderstanding. Sarri wanted Kepa off so badly, and was so incensed by the refusal, that he almost walked out of the stadium.

If Kepa had just accepted the substitution, even after refusing at first, and Chelsea had still lost, then he could have retained his dignity and moral high ground. His substitution would have been another example of Sarri’s tactical failures. But in being selfish, Kepa was quickly reminded of how cruel life can be. Now rather than being championed as a hero, he’s become a joke, and the most scandalous example of how awful this season has been for Chelsea.