Maurizio Sarri has been left in a fragile situation at Chelsea after Kepa Arrizabalaga’s act of defiance in their League Cup final defeat against Manchester City, according to Jose Mourinho.
The club’s £70 million ($91m) record-breaking signing refused to be substituted for Willy Caballero in extra-time, despite pulling up twice with a physical issue towards the end of the contest.
When his number came up, Kepa reacted by waving away Cabellero and insisting he was fine to continue , which sent Sarri into a fit of rage on the touchline.
The Blues boss angrily threw down a drinks bottle before storming towards the tunnel, but he ultimately stopped short of leaving the ground in extraordinary scenes at Wembley.
With the scores locked at 0-0, the game was decided on penalty kicks and Kepa failed to cover himself in glory, allowing a tame Sergio Aguero effort to slip under his gloves.
He did manage to save from Leroy Sane thereafter, but City eventually won the shootout 4-3 , with Raheem Sterling thundering home the winner to capitalise on a David Luiz miss.
Mourinho offered his take on the Kepa incident in the wake of the match on DAZN , revealing he has never experienced anything like it as a manager himself.
The former Manchester United and Chelsea coach also admitted he now fears for Sarri’s position at Stamford Bridge, as he stated: “Luckily I never had to live through anything like this.
“I think on the one hand the goalkeeper wants to show his personality, his confidence and wants to say ‘I’m here, I want to go to penalties and save them, and I am here with the confidence that I will go and do it’. And this is what I like.
“But then I don’t really like that he [Kepa] leaves the manager, the coaches and everyone else in a very fragile situation, also including one of his own team-mates who was ready to enter the pitch.
“Eventually we saw how he [Caballero] was thrown into a mess that he wasn’t really part of.
“It saddens me because it’s a really complicated situation.”