Mikel Arteta defends ‘fair’ decision to play Kepa Arrizabalaga despite Carabao Cup final blunder
Arsenal boss Arteta claimed it would have been unfair to drop his backup goalkeeper Kepa, who had played throughout the Carabao Cup, for first-choice David Raya but his error helped Man City to a 2-0 win at Wembley
Mikel Arteta said it would have been “very unfair” to drop Kepa Arrizabalaga for the Carabao Cup final as he defended his decision to pick the goalkeeper whose mistake gifted victory to Manchester City . Arsenal ’s first-choice goalkeeper David Raya was left on the bench as his deputy Arrizabalaga started and spilled Rayan Cherki’s cross for Nico O’Reilly to open the scoring in City’s 2-0 win at Wembley. The Spaniard, a summer signing from Chelsea, has played throughout Arsenal’s Carabao Cup run but defeat means they have still not won a major trophy since 2020, while Raya has the most clean sheets in the Premier League.
“I understand that but I have to do what I feel is right, which is honest and which is fair,” said Arteta. “I think we have understanding with Kepa, he’s played all the competition and I think it would have been very, very unfair for him and for the team to do something different. ” Arteta denied he had guaranteed Arrizabalaga he would play in domestic cup competitions when he joined, saying he felt the 31-year-old had deserved to play.
“I can never promise a player to play certain competitions because at the end they have to earn it and they have to do enough like any other position to do that,” he explained. “We are guided by what we’ve seen and what he’s done, what he’s done in the competition, and he helped us to go all the way through here. 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. ” Kepa Arrizabalaga made a grave error for Man City’s first goal (Getty) But Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta defended his decision to play the backup goalkeeper (AFP via Getty Images) Arteta said defeat left a “bad taste” for Arsenal as he struggled to process his disappointment. He added: “I’m very sad.