Former Celt Paddy McCourt took a humorous view of Maurizio Sarri’s substitution problems at Wembley yesterday.
The Chelsea boss was furious at Kepa Arrizabalaga’s refusal to be substituted allowing penalty specialist Willy Caballero to come on for the final couple of minutes of the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.
With Kepa suffering from cramp for the second time Sarri wanted him to come off with Caballero stripped and ready to come on to face his old club and many players that he had trained with on a daily basis for years.
If players could have refused to be subbed off during my time @CelticFC I would have been in big trouble ????????
— Paddy McCourt (@PaddyMcCourt15) February 24, 2019
As the £71m keeper waved away the prospect of being substituted his manager got more and more frustrated on the bench. Explaining himself to Gianfranco Zola had little impact as Kepa waved at the bench.
Sarri at one stage looked like he was going to walk out but after heading for the double doors but turned around, interviewed afterwards the Chelsea boss claimed that it was a misunderstanding and that all was well.
McCourt made 69 appearances off the bench for Celtic, starting 20 games in his brief but memorable hoops career.
All eyes at Chelsea will be on the team news for Wednesday’s match with Chelsea to see if Kepa or Caballero are in goals.