Edouard Mendy has made it easy for Graham Potter to drop him for Chelsea – William Gallas

William Gallas believes Edouard Mendy has made it easy for Graham Potter to pick Kepa Arrizabalaga as his first-choice goalkeeper for Chelsea.

Mendy started the season as Chelsea’s No.1 goalkeeper under Thomas Tuchel but came under fire following a series of below-par performances, including a costly mistake in the 3-0 defeat to Leeds United in August.

Since Potter arrived at the club last month, Kepa has started in all six of Chelsea’s matches and looks to have cemented his place ahead of Mendy.

The Spaniard delivered another impressive performance in the 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday, and Gallas believes Mendy has made it difficult for himself due to his mistakes.

‘I have to applaud Kepa. What he’s done is unbelievable,’ Gallas told Genting Casino.

‘As a goalkeeper it’s really difficult to get the opportunity to play when you are second choice, it’s not like other positions, where even if you’re on the bench you’ll always get opportunities.

‘For the goalkeeper, it’s harder so that shows how strong he is, how professional he was. Even when you are second choice, you can’t give up. A lot of players give up when they know they are second choice. A lot of them give up, they don’t train properly so he’s shown everyone what you have to do.

‘When you play you have to be good, don’t give the opportunity to the manager to put you on the bench.

‘Don’t make mistakes, when you do one or two mistakes it’s easier for the manager to put you on the bench. Unfortunately, Mendy made some mistakes and that’s why Potter has picked Kepa over him.’

Gallas has also been buoyed by the impact Potter has made at Chelsea.

‘They look stronger, teams have to be careful about them because now they have new defenders and Aubameyang. In the middle, they look strong, and unfortunately, right now they have injuries,’ said Gallas.

‘But I think the manager has done a good job since he has arrived. It’s never easy to train one club at the beginning of the season because you need time to know your players, you need time to explain to them what you want from them.

‘So it was difficult but he looks like he knows the system he wants to play, they look good and he’s had a good impact.’

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