Kepa “l’Not Good Enough For Top Level’ — Carragher

Jamie Carragher has criticised Mikel Arteta’s decision to start Kepa Arrizabalaga over David Raya in Arsenal’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City.

Arrizabalaga has featured prominently for Arsenal in domestic cup competitions this season, and Arteta continued to place his trust in the former Chelsea goalkeeper for Sunday’s final at Wembley. However, this decision proved costly, as Arrizabalaga made a glaring error that allowed Nico O’Reilly to score the opening goal just after the hour mark.

Arsenal were slightly the better side in the first half, with Kai Havertz coming close to scoring, only to be thwarted by Manchester City’s reserve goalkeeper, James Trafford. Yet, Pep Guardiola’s team took command in the second half, with O’Reilly netting two goals in quick succession, leaving the Premier League leaders reeling.

Carragher labelled Arrizabalaga’s mistake an “absolute shocker” and expressed his disapproval of Arteta’s choice not to field first-choice goalkeeper Raya in the final.

“The goalkeeper has had an absolute shocker, as he has in previous cup finals,” the Liverpool legend and former England defender told Sky Sports (via Metro). “When I first saw the goal, I thought, ‘I feel sorry for the lad,’ because everyone knows what he’s been through in past finals with Chelsea.

“However, I have strong opinions on the goalkeeper situation. While I can understand some decisions, I don’t agree with this one. Mikel Arteta doesn’t owe Kepa anything; he owes Arsenal fans the best possible chance of winning a trophy after six years. They’ve won just one trophy in the last nine years.

“The goalkeeper joined the club knowing he would be second-choice. Yes, he can play through the rounds, but for the final, this has to change, in my opinion. This team needs to start winning trophies.

“Mikel Arteta owes it to the supporters more than he owes it to Kepa. Unlike Manchester City, where Pep Guardiola does owe James Trafford—he brought Trafford in last summer to be the No. 1 but didn’t believe he was good enough, subsequently signing Donnarumma, which was a tough situation for Trafford.

“Moreover, City have won four of these cups, so the pressure on them today was different from that on Arsenal.

“Some might mention [Caoimhin] Kelleher at Liverpool, but the reason he started in finals was that Liverpool were eager to keep him; they didn’t want to lose him. That’s not the case with Kepa, who signed knowing he would be second-choice and has shown he isn’t good enough for the top level, as we saw at Chelsea.”