Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been slammed for his decision to start Kepa Arrizabalaga against Manchester City, after he produced a disappointing performance, but that wasn’t the only mistake he made.
Kepa was at fault for Man City’s first goal of the game at Wembley Stadium, and just moments later, Nico O’Reilly headed home his second goal to seal the Carabao Cup for Pep Guardiola’s side.
The quickfire double gave Arsenal a mountain to climb, and they were unable to recover as City lifted the trophy.
The defeat will now allow Arsenal to focus on their three remaining competitions, the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League, but that won’t make the performance any less disappointing for everyone involved.
Kepa is the player coming under the most criticism, but he wasn’t the only one to let Arsenal down on Sunday.
Arteta Made Another Huge Arsenal Mistake
Since arriving at Arsenal, Viktor Gyokeres has struggled to produce consistent performances, and it was another disappointing display at Wembley.
A lot of the criticism aimed at Arteta has been around his decision to play Kepa in goal, despite David Raya being the first-choice goalkeeper, but starting Gyokeres was also a mistake.
The Swedish striker failed to win any of his aerial duels during the game, and the City centre-backs kept him quiet throughout.
There’s every chance that Gyokeres wouldn’t have started the game had one of Eberechi Eze or Martin Odegaard been fit, with Kai Havertz dropping into the attacking midfield position.
Gyokeres wasn’t the only option to play up front, despite Havertz having to play deeper, and it’s a mistake Arteta made that could have been avoided.
Gabriel Jesus Had Point to Prove
Gabriel Jesus would have had a point to prove against his former club Manchester City, and he’s been treated unfairly by Arteta in recent weeks.
Arteta might feel the need to play Gyokeres into form after the Gunners spent a lot of money on him in the previous summer transfer window, but if he’s not performing at the level required, he needs a spell out of the team.
Jesus won a number of trophies during his time at Man City, so he knows what it takes to win silverware, and he could have been the ideal option to play through the middle of the attack.
Either way, it was a mistake from Arteta to play Gyokeres, and that showed after his disappointing display.