5 of the worst substitutions ever after Arrizabalaga's nightmare vs Liverpool

Chelsea shot-stopper Kepa Arrizabalaga endured arguably the lowest point of his Chelsea career to date during Sunday afternoon's Carabao Cup final.

The Spaniard was introduced by Thomas Tuchel in the 119th minute as the game edged towards a penalty shoot-out.

While the decision to bring Kepa on may have been planned well ahead of kick-off, first-choice goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was enjoying a fantastic game.

The Senegal international had kept Liverpool at bay with a number of top-quality saves and in the eyes of many should have been allowed to carry that form into the shoot-out.

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Instead, he was hauled off in place of Kepa who proceeded to deliver an absolutely abysmal showing from the spot after he failed to save all 11 of the penalties he faced.

If that wasn't bad enough, the former Athletic Bilbao shot-stopper stepped up himself to keep the Blues in the game only to fire his effort well over the bar and into the sea of jubilant Liverpool fans sat behind the goal.

With that in mind, Mirror Football has taken a look at five other disastrous substitutions that did more harm than good.

Ali Dia

Arguably the most infamous substitution in football history.

Ali Dia's story has been told a thousand times over and is still as ludicrous each time you hear it.

The tale goes that then-Southampton manager Graeme Souness received a phone call from someone posing as former AC Milan superstar George Weah.

"When someone like that gives you a recommendation you tend to sit up and take notice," the Liverpool legend claimed.

Once Souness' attention had been captured, the voice on the phone told the Scotsman to sign his 'cousin' Ali Dia.

Allegedly, West Ham, Rotherham and Gillingham all received the same call but passed up on the offer.

Their loss was thought to be Southampton's gain - until they saw him play.

Only 32 minutes had passed before an injury to Matt Le Tissier against Everton meant Dia's moment had arrived.

"He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice," said Le Tissier. "It was very, very embarrassing to watch. We were like: 'What's this geezer doing? He's hopeless."

Later on in the tie, Souness subbed Dia off after his terrible display.

He arrived for some treatment at the training ground the day after, before he was never seen on the South Coast again.

It later became clear Dia had lied about his identity and the man who had phoned Souness was not in fact former World Player of the Year George Weah.

Steven Gerrard

The most notable inclusion on this list, Liverpool's iconic skipper was surprisingly dropped for the visit of fierce rivals Manchester United in 2015.

After Liverpool went in at half time 1-0 down to the Red Devils, Brendan Rodgers took action and brought in one of the finest midfielders the game has ever seen hoping he would inspire a rousing comeback.

Instead, the ex-England international was sent off after less than 60 seconds in what proved to be his final game against a club had he enjoyed so many battles against.

Martin Atkinson reached for his red after Gerrard appeared to stamp on United's Ander Herrera after the ball had long gone.

The Anfield hero went on to later write in his autobiography how he "could not stand" Atkinson and admitted he simply "did not like the look on his face".

Emmanuel Eboue

Eboue is one of the few Arsenal players in Premier League history who has suffered the humiliation of being what is known in the trade as a "sub-sub".

The Ivorian was introduced off the bench just after the half-hour mark at home to Wigan to replace the crocked Samir Nasri in 2008, but what followed arguably defined his Gunners career.

Eboue was an absolute disaster from the moment he came on, seemingly misplacing every single pass and offering minimal defensive cover.

Arsene Wenger, a man known for fiercely defending his players whatever the situation, could not stomach Eboue's efforts for the rest of the game and subbed him off in second-half stoppage time.

The full-back was jeered by his own fans as he made his way off the pitch.

"Eboue played for longer than I wanted him to," Wenger revealed after the game.

"His concentration dropped a little bit and when the crowd got on his back that was difficult to see and accept."

Nicky Weaver

Though the introduction of Weaver was not necessarily what made this substitution so baffling, it was the tactical tweak that it sparked that had everyone talking.

On the final day of the 2005/06 season, Manchester City were desperately trying to qualify for the UEFA Cup but found themselves level with Middlesbrough as the clock ticked towards full time.

Manager Stuart Pearce knew only a win would do and would have to do all he could to ensure his side got that oh so crucial goal.

It led to mass confusion inside what was then commonly known as the Eastlands when Pearce brought on back-up goalkeeper Nicky Weaver.

But not in place of the man with the gloves on the pitch in David James, instead he brought Weaver on for Claudio Reyna.

James then proceeded to don an outfield player's kit and spent the rest of the game operating as a striker.

Reflecting on the decision, Pearce said: "I sat at home on Saturday night and thought to myself: 'What shall I do if we're drawing the game late on and need to hit it long?' I've got a good striker in Jon Macken, who is really disappointed, but I wanted to unsettle them and in some ways it did. It unsettled everyone…them and us."

David Luiz

The second Arsenal inductee in this list, Luiz's time in north London was a mixed bag, to say the least.

While he was widely regarded as a positive influence on the young players around him, he was also guilty of some calamitous displays.

His worst undoubtedly came away at Man City in what marked just the second Premier League game to be played after the Covid-19-inspired suspension.

Replacing the injured Pablo Mari after 24 minutes, a whirlwind half-hour period followed that saw Luiz play a huge part in two conceded goals before getting himself sent off.

Luiz made a mess of a Kevin de Bruyne cross, teeing up Raheem Sterling for a goal in the process.

Four minutes later he hauled down Riyad Mahrez in the box, earning himself a red card and conceding a penalty, which was subsequently scored to double City's advantage.