Carragher slams Arsenal star ‘not good enough for the top level’ after Man City defeat
Jamie Carragher insists Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga is “not good enough for the top level” after he started in their Carabao Cup final defeat against Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta made the decision to give Kepa a chance in the Carabao Cup final after the Spaniard had started in every other round leading up to Sunday.
David Raya, who is their first-choice goalkeeper in the Premier League and Champions League, watched on as his compatriot made a mistake to allow Nico O’Reilly to score his first of two goals as Man City beat Arsenal 2-0.
And Carragher described Kepa’s mistake for O’Reilly’s opener as an “absolute shocker” and insists Arteta “does not owe” the Arsenal goalkeeper anything.
Carragher told Sky Sports: “The goalkeeper has had an absolute shocker as he has done in another couple of cup finals.
“When we first saw the goal I said, ‘I feel sorry for the lad’, because everyone knows what he’s been through in the previous finals with Chelsea.
READ: Kepa Arrizabalaga EFL Cup final calamities ranked by disastrousness after latest loss with Arsenal
“But I do have strong views on the goalkeeper situation and I don’t like it even though I can understand it in some situations.
“But Mikel Arteta does not owe Kepa anything, he owes Arsenal fans the best possible chance of winning a 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. Yes he can play through the rounds but when it comes to the final that has to change, for me, because they haven’t won enough trophies and this team need to get over the line.
“Mikel Arteta owes it to the supporters more than he owes it to Kepa. The difference with Man City is Pep Guardiola does owe James Trafford.
“He brought Trafford in last summer to be the No. 1, didn’t think he was good enough and then signed Donnarumma which wasn’t easy for the lad.
“Also they’ve won four of these cups so the pressure on Man City today was not the same as Arsenal.
“People might mention [Caoimhin] Kelleher at Liverpool as well but the reason he got so many opportunities and started finals was Liverpool were desperate to keep him, they didn’t want to lose him.
“That’s not the case with Kepa, he signed knowing he would be second-choice and he’s not good enough for the top level, we saw that at Chelsea.”
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When asked if the Arsenal players would have been behind the decision, Carragher added: “I don’t think the rest of the team would want that.
“That would want the best possible chance to win a first trophy in six years. Arsenal are not used to winning and they need to get over the line and this is another little chink for them going forward.
“That could have been prevented if David Raya was in goal. Let’s not forget Raya is not just Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper, he’s arguably been their best player this season alongside Declan Rice and Gabriel.
“It’s not just changing No. 1 to No. 2 it’s changing one of your best players when you haven’t got a history of winning with this team.”
But Arsenal head coach Arteta insisted he has no regrets about starting Kepa in net against Man City and “would do it again”.
Arteta said: “I would do it again. Kepa deserved to play this game and has been phenomenal for us. Errors are part of football any anyone can make them.
“It’s painful when you get to a final and you have that will to win the first trophy of a season after eight months working on it is always tough.
“We had the best chance of the game to put it 1-0 and the game would be different. They had two shots and scored two goals.
“We had great incredible months together. Today is a disappointment, football is part of that. We have to use the fight to have two amazing months at the end of the season.”