The EFL (League) Cup final took place this past Sunday between Arsenal and Manchester City. The latter would win 2-0. This put an end to Arsenal's quadruple dreams (winning the Premier League; Champions League; FA Cup and EFL Cup).
While Arsenal were heavily scrutinized for their tactic of 'parking the bus', their goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, was the key reason for the loss. He was at fault for the first goal and the subsequent defeat.
These acts have conjured up outbursts of debates and arguments about whether they should've played their no. 1 'keeper, David Raya, instead. Past Kepa mistakes have also been brought up.
Any talk of a quadruple was squashed over the weekend. No English side can do it now but Arsenal did very little to help their claim. Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, named Kepa Arrizabalaga between the sticks, despite his awful history at Wembley Stadium and it ultimately cost Arsenal a trophy.
Kepa Arrizabalaga is no stranger to stealing headlines for all the wrong reasons in the League Cup final. He undermined Maurizio Sarri once by refusing to be subbed off, only to lose the game on penalties. He was then brought on in 2022, only to not get close to a single penalty and cost Chelsea the final all over again by kicking the decisive penalty over the bar.
The warning signs were there. Kepa Arrizabalaga helped Arsenal to reach the final but his history in cup finals speaks for itself. He should've never started the match and Mikel Arteta learned that the hard way.
Adding to his League Cup Hall of Shame, Kepa put in one of the worst performances from a goalkeeper Arsenal have seen in recent history. He was largely at fault for Nico O'Reilly finishing the job, putting himself in a position that allowed for an open goal.
You can't help but feel like David Raya would never make such mistakes. He's still pretty new to the big-time himself but Arsenal fans have never felt even half as anxious with Raya between the sticks. The game would have had a different feel to it with Raya in goal instead.
Obviously, the blame shouldn't entirely be on Kepa. Sure, he did nothing to keep a clean sheet; but fingers can also be pointed at Arsenal's attack. Players in the front line who fans would have looked towards went missing on the big occasion; unfortunately, that's hardly surprising.
Kepa Arrizabalaga is only in the spotlight because, unlike many of his team-mates, he actually did something worthy of commentary.
It's just a shame, obviously, that his actions directly impacted Arsenal in their chase for the first silverware of the season. Still, his rebuttal would be if he conceded two, why didn't Arsenal score three? They've shown they're capable of doing so when the stakes are less.
To keep a long story short, Arsenal were woeful and they didn't play as champions. Arteta made a bold call, and it backfired massively.
Jamie Carragher was critical of Mikel Arteta's decision to start second-choice Kepa Arrizabalaga ahead of David Raya after his howler during Arsenal's 2-0 Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City.
Kepa kept his place for Sunday's showpiece after featuring in every round of the Gunners' run to the final; but his inclusion was questioned ahead of the game and came back to bite the Arsenal boss when he failed to take Rayan Cherki's cross, deflecting it straight into the path of Nico O'Reilly for City's opener after an hour.
Arteta defended his decision as "right and fair." However, Carragher believes that Arteta doesn't owe the former Chelsea goalkeeper anything.
He also compared the situation to James Trafford at Man City, as well as Caoimhin Kelleher when he played for Liverpool; who often started in goal in cup competitions and finals.
"I've got strong views on playing the second goalkeeper. I don't like it but I can understand it in some situations," Carragher said on Sky Sports Premier League Extra Time.
"But Mikel Arteta does not owe Kepa anything. He owes Arsenal supporters the best possible chance of winning the first trophy in six years. They've won one trophy in nine years."
"The goalkeeper comes to the club because he knows he's second choice. He can play through the rounds, but once you get to the final, it has to change for me because they haven't won enough trophies and they need to get over the line."
"But Pep does owe Trafford. He bought him in at the start of the season to be the no 1., didn't think he was good enough and then bought Donnarumma in - not easy for the lad. Also, they've won four of them. The pressure on Man City to win another Carabao Cup is not the same."
"People might also flip and say Kelleher and Liverpool. The reason he got so many opportunities to play in finals is because Liverpool were desperate to keep him - that is not the point with Kepa. He was signed as a no. 2 and he's not good enough at the top level - we've seen that at Chelsea."
"David Raya is not just the first choice goalkeeper, we're arguably talking about Arsenal's best player this season, so it's not just changing no. 1 for no. 2, it's changing one of your best players when you haven't got a history of winning with this team."
Jamie Redknapp shared Carragher's confusion at Arteta's decision. "I know people will say it's sentiment and he played in the earlier rounds, but Kepa is not as good as Raya," he said. "That's why he is the no. 2."
"So why, in a major cup final when you're trying to get across the line and you've not won a trophy in so long, do you decide to play him? You have to take responsibility for that. That is a monumental error."
"He's not a bad goalkeeper - he's not as good as Raya. It has backfired big time."
At the other end, City's no. 2 Trafford also started in goal - as he did throughout their triumphant Carabao Cup campaign.
"You could say Trafford isn't the no. 1 either but he made three really good saves and after that, hardly had to touch the ball. It was easy for him," Redknapp continued. "It's not me being wise after the event, I said it before the game."
Arsenal legend, Ian Wright, agreed that Kepa's selection had been a risk by Arteta and pointed to the timing of his mistake as an aggravating factor in the defeat, which came when Riccardo Calafiori and Noni Madueke were getting ready to come on.
He said: "The gamble didn't pay off. It was the fashion of the mistake [from Kepa] that makes you think 'that's a no. 2'. It's something you wouldn't see a No 1 goalkeeper make and it's unfortunate because it's the turning point."
"If we don't concede that goal and we get the subs on, we might get into the game a bit."
Gary Neville directly blamed Kepa Arrizabalaga's 'nonsense' behaviour of rolling the ball under his foot for Arsenal's Carabao Cup final collapse at Wembley.
The Gunners went in at half-time of Sunday's Wembley showpiece level with Manchester City but quickly lost control - with stand-in goalkeeper Kepa fumbling for Nico O'Reilly's opening goal.
It was the former Chelsea stopper's actions before the goal that caught the attention of Neville, working on commentary duties for Sky Sports.
Kepa, Arsenal's effective 'cup keeper', came into the team in place of David Raya but the decision proved costly for Mikel Arteta as the Gunners' silverware drought continued and their hopes of winning all four trophies this season evaporated.
Neville said Arsenal brought pressure on themselves and pinpointed Kepa - who had repeatedly put his foot on top of the ball to slow down passing around the backline to hunt for options on where to play the ball.
It was that behaviour that Neville dubbed 'nonsense' leading to 'punch after punch' coming from City on the Arsenal goal.
"They were knocking at the door and City's fans could smell blood behind that goal," Neville said on Sky Sports. "It is a really bad one by the goalkeeper, a real howler in a massive moment, but it was punch after punch and O'Reilly steals in."
"City deserve that, they have been much the better team at the start of the second half and Arsenal now need to show up - what has happened to them in this second half? They have shrunk. Arsenal have gone missing in this second half."
It's not the first time Kepa has grabbed headlines in a Carabao Cup final. In 2019 against Man City he refused to be substituted by Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri in a game the Blues ultimately lost on penalties.
In 2022, he came on as a 'penalty specialist' in the final against Liverpool before failing to save any of the Reds' penalties and then blazing the decisive spot-kick of his own over the crossbar.
Rio Ferdinand said Arsenal missed the ‘best goalkeeper in the world’ David Raya during their Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City. Arsenal no. 1 Raya was benched at Wembley on Sunday as Mikel Arteta continued to put his faith in cup goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
The decision backfired, however, with Arrizabalaga making a poor mistake to gift Manchester City an opening goal in the 2-0 defeat.
Arteta defended his team selection after the game and insisted he didn't regret picking Arrizabalaga ahead of Raya, who has been brilliant since joining Arsenal from Brentford.
Ferdinand has criticised Arteta’s ‘sentimental’ decision and said Raya – who he rates as the ‘best goalkeeper in the world’ – could have swung the Carabao Cup final in Arsenal’s favour.
"We can talk about Kepa’s mistake but those can happen in any game," Manchester United and England legend Ferdinand said on his podcast. "But more than anything he was the big issue in terms of Arsenal getting through the press."
"I think right now David Raya is the best goalkeeper in world football and if he plays, his distribution would have been a big, big factor in that game. He would have played over Man City’s press, he would have played through at times, he would have taken risks and would have been able to put an element of doubt into City’s press."
"Giving an opposition that kind of mindset makes them less convinced sometimes and gives them less conviction when they’re trying to carry out Pep’s tactical approach."
Discussing Arteta’s decision to start Arrizabalaga, Ferdinand added: "I think Mikel Arteta will look back and think he was too sentimental. I know he’s played in the previous rounds but I don’t agree with it. Man City could afford to because they’ve won enough trophies recently but Arsenal are trying to build a winning culture."
"This was a big moment, the first trophy on offer in the season and he’s let it slip through his fingers. The mistake was bad but tactically it was obvious to see that David Raya would have been a mark-up because of his ability with his feet."
"We can talk about how good Raya is at shot-stopping and claiming crosses but his bravery on the ball has been sensational this year and that would have altered Man City’s tactics."
"Arsenal have been a confident back-four and Raya makes it a confident back-five. The frailties at the back given Kepa’s mistake and his inability to play out was glaring to see."
Reacting to Arrizabalaga’s Wembley mistake and defending his decision after the defeat, Arteta said: "I made a decision before the game based on what he has done all season, the fact he has played in the competition and helped us be where we are today."
‘It would have been very unfair to choose a different one. I have to do what I feel is right, honest and fair. I believe it’s the right thing to do and that’s it. Errors are part of football and today it happened unfortunately in a crucial moment.’
Arteta defended his decision to start Kepa, calling his compatriot an "outstanding goalkeeper" and insisting the selection was "right and fair."
"I would do it again. he deserved to play this game and has been phenomenal for us. Errors are part of football any anyone can make them," he told Sky Sports.
When asked whether he expected people to single out Kepa for Arsenal's defeat, he added: "I understand but I have to do what I think is right which is honest and fair. Kepa is an outstanding keeper, and it would've been very unfair on him to do something different."
"We are guided by what we see. What he's done in the competition, and how he helped us to get us to the final, I believe it was the right thing to do. Errors are part of football, and unfortunately it happened in a crucial moment."
To be honest, I wasn't really surprised by Kepa making the mistake. Through my observations and the title of this point; Kepa can cause a mistake to happen at any point.
While he can be a good 'keeper at times, I see him mostly as a liability. Raya definitely should've started. He needs pointers on how to become the no. 1 choice for any team. It's quite obvious that he's no no.1 goalkeeper.