Rio Ferdinand has instructed Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to “eradicate” the ever-growing list of errors from his game after an indifferent few weeks.
The Senegalese stopper has endured a difficult start to the new Premier League season - including a string of high profile mistakes coming against Leeds United and West Ham United. Indeed, the latter went unpunished following a shocking clanger by the VAR official in chalking off Maxwel Cornet’s late equaliser.
Blues boss Thomas Tuchel now has a decision over whether to stick with Mendy or indeed reintroduce Spaniard Kepa Arrizabalaga - albeit the former Athletic Club stopper having not cut the most reliable figure between the sticks at Stamford Bridge throughout his career either.
Ferdinand has warned Mendy that should he not recover some of his more positive form, he is under threat of losing his position in the side.
Speaking on his Vibe with Five podcast, the former Manchester United man said: “I think the biggest thing for Chelsea from this game [against West Ham] is Edouard Mendy is becoming far too involved in situations like this.
“Against Leeds, he was at fault for the first goal. This one as well. There’s been other occasions where he’s made mistakes and hasn’t been punished. They need to iron that out quick because he was brilliant last season, he was phenomenal.
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“He needs to eradicate those mistakes from his game. You don’t want to be in the news as a goalkeeper. The less you talk about them the better they’re doing. At the moment he’s also in the news.”
Mendy’s current inconsistent form at the moment is a stark drop-off from the excellent displays that he turned in at Stamford Bridge initially after arriving from Rennes in 2020. The 30-year-old was named in the Champions League squad of the season that term as the Blues won the competition, whilst also being named as the best goalkeeper in Europe - winning the Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season and Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper awards.
It remains to be seen whether he retains his place in the side under Tuchel - starting with Tuesday’s Champions League group opener against Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday evening.
The German schemer has insisted that he will stick by his goalkeeper whilst things are not going in his favour. He said: “I think at the moment he is a bit unlucky in what he is doing.
“In training, he is fantastic, and he is, in general, a very calm and self-reflective guy who is aware that he lacks a little bit of luck at the moment. Things do not go in his favour. If he has maybe a situation where his action isn’t 100% clear, he gets punished for it massively.
“He is just in this moment, and it feels like it’s not so much his fault. I have the feeling because he tries everything, he is very calm and focused. We will keep on supporting him.”
