Sunday's heroics at Villa Park seemed almost impossible to envisage two years ago from Kepa Arrizabalaga in a Chelsea shirt.
Seven saves were made in a half where Chelsea were put under the most pressure so far this season. That feat is the first time any Premier League goalkeeper has done so since the 2017/18 campaign. Arrizabalaga ironically flipping the script on stats that frame him in a positive light showcases the stark rehabilitation of a player whose reputation was at its lowest in 2020.
It is exactly two years ago at the time of writing when the Spaniard took another significant hit in a manic 3-3 draw at home to Southampton. A game that felt like another setback for a player dramatically losing confidence in a role that appeared too big for him.
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Kepa had already been demoted to Frank Lampard's second choice after the signing of Edouard Mendy from Rennes, but due to an injury suffered by the new signing on international duty for Senegal, Kepa was called upon. The second goal for Southampton was the perfect representation of how low things had got for the £71m goalkeeper.
A calamity of mistakes that began with a loose Kurt Zouma backpass saw Kepa unassertively rush out, only to miss the ball completely, allowing Che Adams a run at an empty net. Panicked, he rushed back to rectify the error, slide tackling towards his post, again the ball moving out of his grasp, falling back to Adams, who smashed home an equaliser. It was a calamitous moment, one that encapsulated how Kepa was failing to handle situations that were increasingly controlling him.
Now, he looks like a figure assured in a role that had slipped through his fingers. He is trying to change his destiny at the club, and that in itself needs to be applauded. There are similarities to one of his peers Ruben Loftus-Cheek who, for different reasons, looked far away from rediscovering a place in Chelsea's lineup around the same period Kepa was consigned to the bench.
In both cases, the players have remained patient and slowly gained the trust of their coaches and supporters.
Both are now regular first-teamers, with Kepa starting every game under Graham Potter so far, only conceding twice in the six games played.
"I'm really happy because of the win and because I helped the team," Kepa told Chelsea's website after Sunday's win.
"I'm feeling very well, with confidence, with and without the ball. Self-confidence and belief in your work, in what you're doing, and belief in the process is very important.
"Of course, I had really tough moments. I had really good moments, but in the end, it's like life. You have ups and downs, and you have to be strong mentally, sticking with your ideas and keep working. Now I am enjoying all the work."
Even up to as recent as this past summer, the thought of the 28-year-old ever resuming the role of first-choice, which he lost to Willy Caballero at the end of the 2019/20 season, felt a step too far.
Even if it has only been less than ten games, it is hard not to feel inspired by the recovery Kepa has made from such low depths. We can scoff at the plight of modern-day footballers, who are paid wages most of us can only fantasise about. But they are human beings.
Go into his shoes. You are signed for a record-breaking fee that you did not ask to be bought for at a young age, then jumped from a local club you grew up with and developed at and moved to a new league, country and culture. Not only that, but the expectations placed upon you have now gone up several notches. Every movement you make is likely scrutinised to extreme lengths. You are the swift replacement for a keeper who had just won two Premier League titles in the role.
Things go wrong, and you lose trust in yourself and likely from your teammates. The harshest spotlight is placed upon you, even if every goal that goes past you is not your fault. The lack of trust in your ability means that you are reactively blamed. Then you are replaced by someone for a lesser fee, watching on from the bench as that keeper does everything you were accused of not.
These may seem like very trivial matters, ones suffered by footballers all across the world every single season. But these are setbacks in a role that can become very lonely when things are not going right. In the world of instant online reaction and media hyperbole, it is not an exaggeration to suggest Kepa was made to look like a parody. Like many elite footballers, turned into 2D objects.
It would have been very easy for Kepa to break, not recover and remain trapped in the perception of others. He has clearly matured in those months of contemplation on the sidelines. He looks more assertive and convinced in his ability.
There is no need in the Kepa comeback story to retroactively go back through history and reframe his Chelsea career in a different light, that makes the extent of his recovery less interesting. He statistically was very poor in the 2019/20 season, and the club were right to act in the market by buying Mendy, a keeper who did dramatically improve the position for a time.
But it is a refreshing tale to see a player reshape the perception of them, and now the full stop on his time at Stamford Bridge may not be as certain as it once seemed.
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