Arsenal starboy looks ‘physically gone’; put him in ‘finishers’ category now

Bukayo Saka looks like he needs a month on the beach; could this be the start of a big old Arsenal collapse?

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Let me tell you about my quad…

Now that Arsenal have bottled the Quad, can we stop the nearly quadruple chat. You either do it or you don’t. Nobody cares if you’ve nearly done it.

I’d rather hear about your dreams last night.
Simon S, NUFC, Cheshire

Who cares about the Carabao Cup?

Pep has won more than twice the League Cups Arsenal have in our whole history.

Let that sink in.

Our record in this competition is weird.

If we bottle the league again, then sure, fill your boots. But I honestly couldn’t give two sh*ts about the League Cup.

That said, maybe just bring George Graham in as caretaker for the day if we ever make the final again?
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London

…Well that was a pretty rubbish game and City deserve credit for taking it away from us in the second half.

Honestly though, just came away from it a bit ‘eh’ – really couldn’t get that excited before the game, during or even disappointed after. I think ultimately the Carabao has zero impact on how I see this team and cynically, if I had the option to guarantee a draw at the Etihad for this loss before the game, I would have bitten your hand off. This season really is about the Premier League and a CL final opportunity.

So what else to learn? Kepa is rubbish, but we knew that already. Missing Eze and Odegaard is a serious problem; getting them both fit for the run in is essential. White isn’t who he was due to injuries. Saka just looks physically gone, I would genuinely consider giving him a couple of weeks off on the beach to see if he can get anything back for the big games in April. City didn’t really threaten before the first goal and mugged us off for the second and that was the game done.

Should we be worried Arteta can’t motivate the squad for the big games? Maybe, but every time Arsenal have lost this season, the bounceback has been real so maybe the rocket up the backside he’ll have given them at the end will drive us on. We were flat against Leverkusen, then lit them up in the return leg.

This doesn’t feel to me at all like the start of a bottling, just another ‘bleh’ in a season that ultimately has only had a few, but really prominently – I think Arsenal and City pick up broadly the same points per game for the remaining fixtures and the league is done by the final day – the real question is whether it’ll be ground out with nothing else to celebrate or if there is a flourish in the other competitions.

Of course, as per usual, should we start stacking back to back losses, the worrying will begin again.
Tom, Leyton

Why Arteta was right on Kepa

As an Arsenal fan, I’m disappointed to lose the League Cup final, because as I said last week, as a supposedly big club we have a terrible record in this competition compared to the other big five of City, Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea.

As a quick side note, can we stop referring to Spurs as part of a “top six”? You cannot finish in the lower half of the table for two consecutive years and still be classed as a top six team. Sure, if they finish top eight or ten next season in the Prem, go deep in cups, or make big signings, we can review this.

(The term is Big Six, not top six. And it’s about money and status, not league finish – Ed)

This was a huge game for Arsenal in terms of needing to win the League Cup, but like most things in life in 2026, we seem to love jumping straight to extremes.

Last week the whole media were talking about Arsenal winning the quadruple, which as I said was stupidly premature. Now, after one poor 30 minute spell of football against the greatest manager of all time, Arsenal are apparently on course to win nothing.

A few points I wanted to make about the game. Pep Guardiola is a tactical genius. His decision to deploy four forwards, all of whom waited 20 metres from the Arsenal players when the keeper or centre backs had the ball, was inspired. Arsenal had nowhere to go. They could either pass it between the back line, not getting anywhere and looking increasingly nervous and anxious, or boot it long and essentially give it straight back to City. It will be interesting to see if Pep adopts this approach next month when Arsenal can afford to bore draw the game 0-0, knocking it about between the keeper and back four.

Secondly, as well as Pep setting up his team brilliantly and Doku, Semenyo and Cherki offering an attacking threat, both teams had 10 shots, Arsenal 4 on target and City 2, and 3 corners each. This was not a game where City were creating loads of clear opportunities and the keeper kept Arsenal in it. Kepa literally made no saves, while Trafford made a couple of great saves and Arsenal hit the woodwork twice.

Am I saying Arsenal deserved something from the game? No, City were better for longer periods. As well as the attacking players I mentioned, Ballon d’Or winner Rodri proved why Zubimendi will only ever be his understudy for Spain. And as much as the English media try to make out that Rice is the best midfielder in the world, outside of England no one is going to believe he is a better player than Silva.

That said, City’s breakthrough came from a keeper mistake. If that does not happen, I am not sure City score. Maybe Arsenal play terribly for the whole game and extra time and it goes to penalties, where Arsenal would have had a fifty fifty chance. For context, we played a lot worse in the FA Cup final of 2005 against a Rooney, Cristiano, Scholes, Keane et al Man Utd team that battered us, eight shots on target to one, twelve corners to one, where our keeper made save after save and defenders were making goal line clearances.

Now, coming on to the keeper mistake and whether Arsenal should have played Raya instead of Kepa. I have one question for Arsenal fans: as much as this game was huge, would you have taken winning this game with Raya, but Raya picking up an injury and being out for a month? In this theoretical world we would then have had to play Kepa for important Champions League and Premier League games.

For me, no chance.

But equally, part of the reason Kepa plays in the cup is in case Raya does get injured or suspended. If Raya gets injured while away with Spain next week, I would prefer to have a keeper in Kepa who has played some competitive football this season. And this is why all the big clubs play their second string keepers in the cup competitions.

When Arteta says it would not be fair not to play Kepa, he is not doing it out of pity, he is doing it because he needs Kepa as fresh and content as possible given that he is the second keeper. Surely, to even sign Kepa, who let us not forget is still the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, has played over 100 games for Chelsea and Real Madrid, and has more caps for Spain than Raya, Arteta would have had to be clear about what games he would play in and what would happen if we reached domestic cup finals. Sure, he made a mistake, better goalkeepers than Kepa have made worse mistakes in finals.

Anyway, we move on. I never thought the quadruple was on, so at least that is off our back. Getting Eze and Odegaard back over the international break is key. Then let us see what happens in the next set of Premier League games when Arsenal host Bournemouth and City go to Chelsea. A couple of weeks ago it looked more likely that Arsenal could stretch their lead, now with Chelsea in free fall the pressure is on Arsenal to put more points on the board. If we beat Bournemouth then we will likely need just four wins from the last six games unless City win all their games and overturn the goal difference of 7. With Haaland again not performing on the big stage, it is not a certainty that City will win all of their last eight games.

However, lose to Bournemouth and it’s back in City’s hands, hence let’s take it one game at a time.
Paul K, London

…Frustrating watch yesterday particularly after City took the lead. I find the narrative (in the morning mailbox and at various other media outlets) of Kepa selection making the loss Arteta’s fault. City picked there second choice too and he made some excellent early saves. A manager cannot account for individual errors (like chucking it in your own net). There are plenty of reasons this game might be Arteta’s fault but this has to be the laziest, clickbait-iest take possible.

Also, someone in the mailbox said that Arteta should not have played Trossard, Gyokores or Haevertz. This is a really odd comment, who exactly is supposed to play then?

Last thing I found the Madueke substitute performance was very poor.

Nice one,
James

Eight Carabao Conclusions

1. The better team won. My team, Arsenal, thought that by just turning up at Wembley they were guaranteed a win.

2. The manager went for preferential team selection. Saka should join the finishers category now.

3. Arteta was too nervous and scared. Who shields the back four when Rice and Zubimendi are all over the place? Hincapie should have been hooked off at half time. He couldn’t tackle for fear of a second yellow card. Calafiori came in later and was the best player.

4. Kepa should be investigated for match fixing in finals. Even my grandma would not have dropped that ball.

5.Why was Mosquera left on the bench when Ben White was struggling and on a yellow card?

6. We saw Max change the game against Everton. Why not give him a chance? In the absence of Odegaard and Eze, where is the creator for Arsenal?

7. Why play Rice at right back when he is more effective centrally. And has he been told to stop shooting from distance?

8. Where does Arsenal go from here? What will Arteta do going forward? As for Kepa, sentiments aside, that should be his last game in an Arsenal shirt.
Yiembe, Mombasa

That Arsenal team is the image of Arteta

As a player, conservative. The king of sideways passing. Over-analysing even in training. Refusing to take risks. Very competent but not outstanding. Mikel Arteta as a player, was fine. A bit good at times.

He’s built Arsenal in his own mould after trying the Wenger way and not making it. The League Cup final, was the absolute epitome of Arteta’s evolution as a manager. Afraid. Cowardly. Clueless. The humiliation of City saying “come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough” from 20th minute to the last and Arsenal showing they do not have any testicular fortitude was tough to swallow.

A result like that has been coming. We’ve been extremely fortunate in a number of games. Now I pray this isn’t the commencement of fumbling of the season, it’s just Arsenal fumbling their way to the title. Or we can start taking bets on whether Enrique or Fabregas fancy completing the project.
Ali, Ealing

READ: 16 Conclusions on Manchester City beating bottling Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final

Six things about Slot’s Liverpool

I’ve watched Liverpool vs Galatasaray and Brighton, and a few things are just obvious now:

1. Gakpo is not it
I don’t care how talented he looks on paper—Liverpool are a better team without him. He’s got the tools but no presence, no arrogance, no killer instinct. At a big club like this, you need ego. When he signed, I thought we had another 20 G/A player easy. That hasn’t happened. The fact we’re always linked with left wingers tells you everything. Either it’s mentality or he’s just not that level.

2. Alisson carries that defence
It’s actually crazy how different we look without him. The whole backline plays with more confidence when he’s there. Marmitedashvili? I’m not convinced at all as his successor. Kelleher had moments, stepped up a few times, but even him—never really screamed “this is the guy.” Alisson is still levels above. The search continues to replace the Messi of goalkeepers.

3. Wirtz needs to fix up if he’s a 100m player
Yeah he’s creative, yeah he takes risks—but bro, the amount of times he lost the ball against Brighton was painful. You can’t be that careless at that level. Instead of controlling the game, he gave Brighton confidence. If you’re costing that much, you need to dominate, not destabilize your own team.

4. We need Ekitike AND Salah
Despite Salah fluffing a lot of chances against Galatasaray, he gave us a glimpse into what a hardworking and quality front 2 could give us. He needs more touches in and around the box for us to get the best of him. At least till the end of the season.

5. Slot is not Klopp
Klopp’s biggest strength wasn’t tactics – it was mentality. He made us feel like underdogs even when we were the best team. He could get ANYONE to run through a wall. Man won trophies with kids and bench players bleeding on the pitch. Players like Chiesa would THRIVE under Klopp because he demands heart. Right now, we look soft.

6. If Slot goes, De Zerbi makes sense
If we’re being real, De Zerbi is probably the closest fit. Tactical, brave, and emotional. He can build a system and still bring intensity. He’s the type of coach who can turn a random academy player into prime Maldini for the last 30 minutes of a game against Wolves
Malindi from Zambia