Manchester City defeated Arsenal 2-0 to win the Carabao Cup this evening, a significant blow that ended Arsenal’s hopes of completing a quadruple. The result marked a disappointing conclusion for the Gunners, who had entered the match with strong ambitions of securing multiple trophies this season.
Arsenal began the game with purpose and intensity, aware that this fixture represented the first step towards achieving their broader objective. Having faced Manchester City earlier in the campaign without defeat, there was a belief within the squad that they could secure a positive result. Their early performance reflected that confidence, as they pressed high and created promising opportunities.
A Competitive First Half
City were forced to withstand a determined Arsenal side during the opening exchanges, although they also enjoyed spells of control. Both teams demonstrated attacking intent, and chances were created at either end of the pitch. Arsenal, in particular, may feel they should have taken the lead during this period, having produced several encouraging moments in front of goal.
At the interval, both managers delivered crucial instructions to their players, knowing that fine margins would likely decide the outcome. The match remained finely balanced, with neither side able to gain a decisive advantage before the break.
City Take Control After the Interval
Upon the restart, Manchester City adopted a more aggressive approach, increasing the intensity of their attacking play and causing Arsenal significant problems. Their pressure eventually paid off when Nico O’Reilly opened the scoring on the hour mark, a goal that reflected their growing dominance.
The breakthrough appeared to unsettle Arsenal, while City gained confidence and began to assert greater control over proceedings. Just four minutes later, O’Reilly struck again to double the advantage, leaving Arsenal with a considerable challenge.
Despite making several changes in an attempt to respond, Arsenal were unable to regain momentum. City, drawing on their experience in finals, managed the game effectively and maintained their lead to secure the trophy.
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Our only hope is EPL as we can’t win a final game in or champions league with this style. The teams in the final notch better and can easily purnish us with this pedestrian style of game. This is what you end up with when you tolerate crappy football all season. Our 2nd half performance is exactly how we have been playing every 2nd half this season. We haven’t had a game changer this season and every sub plays the same way as the player they sub out. Madueke, Martinelli, Eze, Jesus have not challenging the starters and no improvement on the field when they come in. Our style is always the same regardless of the personnel, which makes the whole thing stale
we can’t win the CL
Dan
We can
I’ll be very surprised if we do
depends what you mean
if your doing that thinh as in literally can we ….then of course
yet in our development we are just not there yet
In FA or champions league.
First of all. Congratulations City. They were the better team with better manager. Scoring with 2 headers,two shots on target.
As much as I am one of Arteta’s biggest supporters he should not have kept Saka,Trossard and Hincapie on for so long. Hincapie was clearly targeted by the overload of Cherki,Silva and Semenyo. Saka looks fatigued and decision making has been very poor. Trossard is a very good player but we needed more pace and directness. Going long was also a very poor choice of tactics given how well we started.
Bringing on players like Calafiori and Noni so late didn’t help at all,as we could have played and attacked City much more directly instead of kicking hopeful long balls.
I’m sure and hope Arteta will learn from his mistakes. This is his time. The players need him and the staff to figure it out and get it right. His decision making on tactics,starting players and substitutes needs to be on point otherwise we can go home trophyless again. This is where the league is won. Does he keep it simple? Overthink it? Change his original tactics? Trust other players more?
Gonna be an interesting last few weeks.
COYG!!!
The table does not lie
We are on the top of the EPL clear by 6 points assuming City win their game in hand.
We reached the quarters of the UCL, not having lost a game!
If we played crappy football, the above would not be the outcome
As for the league cup, the difference in the prize money is just 50000GBP, no regrets if we did not win it.
I repeat, trophies do not define a club.
The Europa League winners of 2025 are sure/almost to be relegated this season, so be careful what you wish for.
I hope this will galvanize the team to beat them at Ethhad, on the league. Where it matters
I am afraid this gutless performance will do the opposite.
At the point now where I don’t think winning the premier league should be enough to save Arteta. Another awful performance, poor substitutions and and over reliance on players. Why not take Havertz or Victor off for Norgaard and survive that twenty minute onslaught. Then change one of Rice or Zumbi when momentum swings back our way. The final straw was brining Jesus on instead of throwing on Dowman.
Winning ANY of the remaining three will definitely “save Arteta”. That doesn’t excuse Arsenal losing this one though.
In FA or champions league.
Hincapie and Trossard absolute wastes of space today. What was Arteta thinking playing Kepa?
Absolutely pathetic from arsenal. I don’t mind losing if you put in a effort. Saka was woeful.
Shambolic performance and we lost. Saka should never start in upcoming games and he has been awful this season. Try Maduke in the right wing.Arteta should withdraw the plan of playing Rice and Zubimendi together since it’s affecting our attacking game. And I wonder how Arteta couldn’t spot Hincapie’s struggles after the yellow card. If he had introduced Califori in the second half, Arsenal would have different outcome.
Its not a secret that I think the way we play doesn’t work under pressure. BUT (and I am probably being naive) it was not pressure. It was just god awful tactics and surprisingly, we didn’t look up for it. Now the Carribou cup is like the FA cup a nice day out, but today it wasn’t that. BUT if from here we do not win the league that is a completely different animal. THATS what matters, not today. I hope the manager and the players are in tune to that and the way we play and pressure does not bite us in the bum. There are things today that I do not like about the way we played (individuals) and the approach. It can not be allowed to affect the league. We need to find a way. Today was one day and it was poor.
Reggie- we played the same way we have been playing all season. Decent first half performance coupled with poor finishing and uninspiring 2nd half by going defensive. We have been getting away with this type of performance week in week out. We tolerated it because it was winning us games but we know it’s not sustainable. What I have realized this season is that this team have difficulty when playing from behind as they barely create a chance and they get worse as the match continues. They play scared and no one is outstanding this season. No moment of magic as every sub plays same ways as the guy they sub
But we didn’t play the same way. We played worse.
I am so happy that this happened in the Carabao Cup. Arteta is a fast learner and hates repeating the same mistakes twice; now he knows how and what to prepare for in the EPL.
Even when the boys played confused, the defensive side was still very active until Kepa chose to be useless
Oh Raya how he had loved a throughball via the City line
I feel for the poor sods who attended, I was so gutted to not be one of them, but after witnessing that debacle at home maybe it was just as well.
So disappointed in everything today, with how easy we rolled over I’m now dreading the remainder of the season
Just win the league please. Arteta outcoached today pretty badly. City were turning the screw leading up to HT and no personnel or tactical changes were bizarre. Credit has to be given to Pep. The only performance that surprised me today was how poor Hincapie was. Unfortunately, our attack put in the exact kind of performances they have for far too much of this season. And take away a creative midfielder too and we are left with just set pieces to score from.
Yeaaa. Stubborn arteta continues to play useless saka
Saka needs to go back to the academy
How do you expect to defend your way to victory in a cup final? The most annoying part of the whole thing is how afraid we are of attacking a City team whose defence is consistently conceding goals from even relegation battling teams. And for Arteta to see that Harvertz deserved to be hooked at half time is beyond me. This attitude and defensive mentality may actually cause us to lose out on the league title as well
I really hope he doesn’t think we can go to the Etihad and just defend for 90 minutes.
been doing that all season.
law of averages won’t work all the time
Not only Havertz. Saka and Hincapie should have replaced at halfway. I doubt Arteta was aiming for penalty shootout, that is why he persisted with both Saka ans Havertz.
For me a cup final should be all out attack and shackles off. We played like we were in iron chains. No flare,no overlapping, no urgency.
@Alex who should get hooked if not Havert cox clearly he is missing in midfield and obviously that position never gave us major positive results.
Havert and Artefact failure to sub Hicapie timely killed the game. So I only wish Artefact doesn’t win any Trophy 🏆 cox if he does then the lifeline will likely be extended so I’m so happy 😁 today.
Fact is that he never learn from past mistakes and too stubborn to tweak out of the box of passing sideways rather than concentrating on moving through the middle direct pressing and shot on goal whenever possible perhaps that’ll be better tactics than what we already know.
Could have been a different game entirely had Her took his chance early on against a team shot of confidence coming into this game. How their first goal was not ruled out for foul (shirt pulling) is beyond me. I have to admit we could’ve done better to win the game, but it wasn’t meant to be, now we have to hold on to the fraustration till the international break ends. Really fraustrating!
*Havertz.
In truth, City did not have to be particularly good to beat an Arsenal side which failed to perform when it mattered.Lets hope this defeat does not dent the confidence of our players for the challenges in the weeks ahead.
Negative tactics might get you almost there but willl never win
PJ-SA
Mourinho has won alot using negative football
Sorry Freddy but you are wrong, and I have a feeling a Mourinho comment would be added.
Jose was extremely good defensively and arranged his team to wait and wait for the right moment to counter which was a strength. He was very defensive yes, not negative! We are just negative end of
PJ-SA
How can you say we are negative when we have beaten Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Spurs home and away, Inter Milan away, Leverkusen, Chelsea home and away, Man United away, Bilbao away, Everton home and away?
What about winning 8 champions league matches in a row, being in the UCL quarters, scoring more league goals than anyone else, 9 points clear, conceding less league goals?
Can we stop pretending that we were doing this before Arteta came. And let’s appreciate what he has done
Arteta isn’t Maureen. There are negative tactics and negative tactics.
Reggie
Yes, Arteta is not Mourinho. But he is doing good in his first job. He will win a lot and hopefully, it will be with Arsenal.
100% PJ. They catch you up eventually. C
Reggy
Yes. Arteta is not Mourinho. But he is doing good in his first managerial job. He will win a lot, trust me. And I hope it will be with Arsenal
More disappointed in the performance than the result. Utterly gutless!
As played poorly in the second half. At least we should win EPL.
can we ?
Bournemouth was a tie 3-3 a couple years ago and same with Wham to cost us the league.
With this result we may collapse again.
I am sure whether Artetas tactics today were to try and be more clever than Pep but he failed miserably
If you can play your way out of the back quicker and
thru the first phase of pressure then you have no business been at the final.
wrong approach all day long.
I’ve been writing this on this our platform but most of our fans do argue with me: with all due respect, Arteta is one of the most over rated coaches in the world, but that is not the problem. The biggest problem is that he is too stubborn to learn!
How on earth, can you see Saka’s abysmal record with Man City – before now, 13 appearances, 1 win, 3 draws and 9 loses, – and you still start him? The players that were instrumental to the winning of Man City in the last two seasons and last season were all dumped on the bench.
If we narrowly use this our heading football to win the league, Arteta should be sacked for a better coach. Arsenal has spent a lot under him, but we’re not getting results. It’s a pity that the worst Man City I’ve seen in 10 years will beat us 2 nil
Yet we sit top of the PL and are in the quarter finals of the CL with the “stubborn” and “over rated” coach.
The team has good players whom he is failing to properly use. With his coaching he wont last at a team with no funds to continuously buy players
Agreed.
I am disappointed but all finals are 50/50 and we just didn’t turn up – it does not make Arteta a bad manager he simply made the wrong decisions it happens 😕
HD that comment used to say “Yet we sit top of the PL, in the final of EFL Cup and are in the quarter finals of the CL”
Whats changed? Reality! The fact is making it relatively far means NOTHING if you can’t get over the line.
You might not like it, you seem to even deny it….but thats simply how it is regardless of your feelings
PJ-SA, well being in the mix and actually challenging for trophies is better than what the majority of PL teams are doing.
The reality was that we were just not good enough yesterday. That doesn’t mean we are going to end up without a trophy this season.
Fan boys…..just love the blind devotion.
Actually our 1st half performance wasnt too bad BUT a capable winning manager would have made the required tweaks at half time. Hincapie HAD to come off. His performance was tempered by his yellow. Saka was and had been woeful on the wing and he should have subbed off Havertz who apart from his 1st game was back to his usual aimless and ineffective performance. Trossard was invisible yet stayed till late?? Then theres them chelski rejects…..cost us a final AGAIN.
Won big as I bet jesus would come on. Whats with the novices fixation with his favourites? 8 mins left FFS put on Max and at very least set an unbeatable record for years AND he would have played better than jesus.
All our fans overlooked our woeful tactics that has lead to poor player performances because we had luck and won. Luck runs out poor tactics wont. Even at 8 pts clear…i sense deja vu and last nites game confirmed my fears. We will lose pts at City, Bornemouth.,West Ham and Fulham
This manager wont win us anything and must go,
But is that by luck or judgement?
LtDan, you don’t sit top of the PL this time of year by luck.
Amos Promise
Am 100% if Arteta had started Madueke ahead of Saka and we lost, you woul be here asking why he did that. I want that pain to help us win the league or UCL
Lets relax. Man City deserved the win
Agree, truth is we lack any elite wingers in the whole squad. Saka downturn in form is shocking, but nobody has stepped up in his place. Madueke is decent, but definitely not a clear level above even an out of form Saka. Truth is that Pep schooled Arteta. And Arteta needlessly weakened this team by playing Kepa. Raya is not simply a shot stopper. Our distribution was essentially dead from kickoff. Kepa went long every single time and never even tried to the kinds of balls Raya does to get us building from the back.
RSH
I agree with almost everything you wrote, but as for Kepa, he deserved to start
Am pretty sure if Raya had started and we lost, most Arsenal fans would be questioning why Arteta didn’t start Kepa who has taken us this far.
It was only fair to give him a chance. Every player does a mistake. Remember Raya’s mistake against Wolves?
Lets move on
RSH, Kepa had to go long, especially in the 2nd half, as Man City had 4 players strung across the edge of our penalty area to stop us playing out from the back.
@A.P
Finally, seeing 👀 someone that’s see the clearer picture of this overrated coach 😔…
I need not to clear the air sef as many will not understand better that what has brought Artefact up here is luck and crops of lads that are individually good but deteriorating by day with wrong 👎 defensive and wrong tactics of just a singular tactic which I believe all should have known by now…
Just 2 things I asked…
GIVE THIS LADS FREEDOM TO GEL AND UNDERSTAND THEMSELVES AND LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES SINCE ARTEFACT WOULDN’T WANT TO DO IT
STOK EXPERIMENTING WITH PLAYERS THAT ARE NOT 🚫 IN RIGHT POSITION LIKE HAVERT IN MIDFIELD IN SUCH IMPORTANT MATCH LIKE THIS ONE AND KNOW ALREADY THAT HAVERT NEVER SUITED TO ARSENAL MIDFIELD EVER SINCE DAY 1
Famochi, I bet you didn’t moan about our previous manager playing players out of position.
ahh the usual ….Arteta fails so let’s attack the most successful manager in our history lol
What ? Where have I attacked our previous manager ?
How important is Eze now? Why Saka keep playing ahead of Madueke?We have no midfield other than Rice.Hincapie is just good at defending , brings nothing to attack. White just past his prime long ago. Zubimendi is, like always, the invisible man passing ONLY backward and sideways.No one to pass to Gyokeres. Our game is a game without midfield. Ball goes straight from defense to attack. If it does.Most of the time doesn’t.Martinelli is done from long time ago.Negative football brings negative results. Always. Somehow Arsenal managed to crawl close to the finish line displaying the same infect attitude toward offensive football.Bunch of players must leave at rhe end of season-White, Martinelli, Jesus, Havertz, Trossard,Kepa. For the right money I will push away even Saka and Zubimendi.Tonali from Newcastle is a must, along Rice can dominate the midfield.undisputed. Left wing is a must.In the mold of Madueke, not Martinelli.Until we stop playing scarred not to lose, nothing good is coming.Time of truth is here-cannot win trophies based on defense and set pieces only, displaying an awful style of football.
A biased report
We were clearly second best form teh 15th minute on
The second half was an embarrassment.
YET AGAIN Arteta’s team was slow and negative in a big game.
He remains the problem
Three words are needed, embarrassing embarrassing embarrassing
The curse of Kai Harvetz strikes again, like he did against Liverpool and Man Utd a few seasons ago, the dude can’t score to save his life. Even his penalty at Leverkusen was almost botched
How come our midfield never contests for the second balls worries me..this midfield on paper is very strong than our recent midfield but opponents always find easy time
The lack of hunger today was hard to take. Rare final at Wembley. We never looked like going for the kill. Mind you, we didn’t look capable of it today either.
👍
Calm down everyone we lost the game they were better on the day. Now is the time to support the team and remote energy enough of the blaming game. The team need us now more than ever remember we can win the premier league
No….they werent better on the day. They were so poor that we looked good in the 1st half. A capable manager would have noticed our shortcomings as the half went on…hincapie was underperforming due to his aggression being hampered. Woeful performance from Havertz and Saka. An invisible Trossard. ….and a capable manager WOULD have acted. Proper subs to affect the game NOT his robotic drivel aka wenger.subs.
And the less said about the chelski reject keeper….AGAIN???….the better. Hopeless long balls that put pressure back on immediately. Mate, maybe you should copy pep 100%, your tactics aint gonna win us anything
Saka seems to have gone off the boil ever since his engagement announcement. I was hoping this wouldn’t happen and not sure this is the reason for his poor form, but they seem directly correlated. Maybe some time out and Madueke taking his place, might get his mind back on the game. Arteta just doesn’t seem to me managing the team very well, we could’ve done with Nwaneri to break their high line with Odergaard and Eze out, and anyone could see Madueke was needed along with Dowman right at the start of the first half to break their high line. It was like watching a car crash waiting to happen.
I do feel that in an attacking line up, which to me is pretty average for a PL winning team, Madueke has been the only real bright spark most of season – especially considering lack of game time he’s had.
Agent Mik working for City. Should’ve made subs at half time, instead waited to be 2-0 down. Also starting Kepa was a joke. But we’ve got Super Mik, so City are safely winning everything on local ground.
Bad day in office. We were nervous especially after missing our chances
I want that pain to help us win the league
It’s not time to blame the coach and players
#COYG
Konstantin
It seems you didn’t watch the match
Arteta was making the subs before City scored the second goal
And how can he be City’s agent yet it’s the players who missed chances
Can we stop scapegoating the coach please
Thought we were the better team first half ,but then completely dominated second half TBH .
Rather lose this one than the prem or whatever comes after so not a biggie .
The ref talk as the match was in play was utter crap ,he had a perfect game ,beaten by the better team and manager .
Onto the next .
DK
Totally agree
Until keppa mistake in thought they had a lot of the ball but no ends product .
Hurts me to say they were the better team overall
No complaints on the final result. Hate losing bit of we are going to fold on one then this is the one to give up
2 or 3 weeks of sulking now Until the next games
Onwards and upwards
We have 2 plus weeks to go away and return for the league. Ready to go again.
👍👍
Any Keeper(s) can make mistakes, ‘Kepa’s boob’ won’t change what’s still on the horizon for the arsenal. The keeper has learned his lesson why he is our back up, number#2. I have pointed out numerous times, North-West Clubs are not easy work.
Regardless, Arteta and his staff can review what unfolded today and use the data to add and to improve this team. Changes in midfield as well as up top will be made. No real need to panic… at least not yet.
💯% agree about keepers. Raya has made mistakes that has cost us goals and points.
He wont and we should. Learn and panic
AND when i saw the ref..knew we were done. Hincapie yellow but their thug captain escapes? And Benny…great yellow but since you are leaving you should have done a Roy Keane and stretchered that clown and made him miss our game. Saka isnt captain material, a real one would been been at Bennys side almost immediately after his tackle
Bad day in office. We were nervous especially after missing our chances
I want that pain to help us win the league
It’s not time to blame the coach and players
#COYG
Jesus was energetic when he came on, i wonder why he didn’t start ahead of Gyokeres.
Matthias
You guys are funny 😆😆😆😆
Gyokeres was everyone’s favourite to start. So how comes now you are asking why Jesus didn’t start?
Lets congratulate City who deserved it hands down
I will not lose sleep over this result! It isva cup, yes but we haven’t won it. Let us now put our energies into EPL and Champions League. I am confident that we shall perform to our best. It is good that we have no new injuries from this game. This game has given us a clear path where to concentrate our efforts. These many games have taken their toll on Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and New Castle! Man city was more determined to win this because it might be their only hope for silverware. They are out of Champions League and EPL seems difficult to capture. So, this was a fight for their dear lives! I am sure when we meet in EPL the boys will be up for a real fight. This might even deceive Man city to think they have the upper hand which they don’t. I believe we shall be fine.
David Rusa
The best comment so far
I see almost everyone blaming the coach and players. Others are even questioning the starting line up, yet we fielded the best we could
For me it’s the league all the way
Good post DR 👏👏👍
Seems like a bunch of excuses to justify a poor performance from us
People that have a losing mentality will give you props im sure
I wouldn’t say I have a losing mentality, far from it in fact. I’m not going to lose any sleep over the fact we lost a game of football, as my health is more important !!
@David Rusa
Also – we went into this tie without Eze, Odegaad and Merino. People behaving like Citeh are spurs, truth is they are Top Tier. Believe it… We are too.
go see what was said in the build up
Dan
I’m fuming here. Me having lost £32 1st Goal on our Swede, not to mention £18 on K. Havertz 🙁 ain’t nothing my Birra Meretti won’t help to heal.
Dan
I’ll go look into the what was said earlier – in these JA threads.
To those add Raya and Timber.
I have a bridge to sell that has a great firewoks displayon NYs eve. Failing that, i have a relo who needs help in getting his cash out of africa.
Deceive citeh???? With his tactics??? Its 22-23 deja vu again
Can any of you seriously think about CL glory with these tactics? City and chelski waz outplayed in their ties and we struggled in the epl against them.
Won’t even comment on the game.
Been watching this for 6 years with this guy.
Lay it out for all to see, either get Ode and Eze healthy or it is over, like overrrr.
7 more league games of this $h*Te.
May 24th will be the last second of Arteta’s career in my eyes, with this club to get it done in League. Wish I was saying April 24th, but the scheduling gods are going to draw this out slowly, torturing our minds, eyes, and nerves out.
Do not care about anything else, preserve our players, optimize their health, and get it over the line.
there is a gutless utuber claiming to be an arsenal fan, and making money out of it !! Please find a another team
to support chliche spewing idiot… listening to you makes
me sick.. and you have you´re kid roaming around the
studio whilst streaming. If I was AFC board I would
cut out all ties with youre channel asap..
I’m Gutted.
We should have played a lot better
I really thought we’d win it today
But we can still win Premier League
and we are still in FA and CL
I could never see it happen but if Real or PSG came in with a £100 million bid for Saka I would bite their hands off.
He does nothing and offers nothing since he got his big contract.
He doesn’t deserve it.
So disappointed I fear this is the start of something bad – it probably won’t be I just have little confidence in this team
Didn’t you see when Jesus hit the post, did Gyokeres even had a shot
To not win the Carribou cup, is not a disaster and I will hold back from blaming anyone. But to not win the league (which is the aim) from here would be a sacking offence. Unless we go on and win CL. The league is the one and massively in our hands.
I don’t understand how peeps can’t say it was a mistake to play Kepa
it was literally a conversation before the game
Converting chances was also a discussion before the game, don’t see you mentioning that?
They were the better team on the datmy,by far….whichever way you want to spin it this is the reality
I think all season it’s been mentioned that we don’t work the keeper
so we knew the tactics would be let City have the ball and see if they could break us down
he hadn’t really had to make a save so I’m sorry his mistake was crucial
Dan I will ask you again. If there was an agreement to play Kepa in domestic cups, should that agreement have been broken?
no you didn’t you asked me do I think he would and I said I fear yes.
if your now asking would I break that agreement ?
against Man City? yes
but I don’t think that was made and if it was it’s terrible management
let me now ask you ?
if he has made that promise would you still play him in say an FA Cup Final ?
Oh now you are saying yes. So now you approve of cheating🤣
And i did ask you 3 times and you twisted and turned because you diwant to say no.
you asked
Dan, I have read a while ago that there was some form of agreement that Kepa joined because he would play domestic cup games. Or at least some guarantees. If that is the case (which I am obviously not 100% certain of) would you expect that to be honoured.
and I said I fear It will be
now your asking should it ….
so there two different questions……what I expect to happen and do I think it should happen
and I answered lol
you asked
would you expect that to be honoured……..I said ….I fear he will
that’s an answer …..might not be the answer you like but it’s an answer
and it’s a pointless debate because he has not confirmed he didn’t make that promise
no if you go back you ask do I think he will his word and I said I fear so ?
that’s me answering your question
your now asking me what I would do …..asking me what I would do is different to what I think he would do
how is that cheating ?
anyways he’s confirmed no promises were made so what does it matter
how you can still defend that decision after what you have just seen is astounding
That why I kept asking you 3 times.
Look up your interpretation of cheating.
I ASKED “do YOU expect Arteta to keep his word” (not think) you dodged the answer 3 times, you twisted what I aske like you are now. It was a question put to you because of a suggestion of honour. We do not know wether there was a gentlemans agreement or not ( but its funny he did play) but if there was. Arteta had to follow it or he would have lied, which in my book a form of cheating. It doesn’t matter, if there was a deal or not, the question to you was should Arteta honour it and you wouldn’t answer because you would have said NO!
and we do know
and he’s been asked and has said no promises were made so it’s a mute point
I’m.not getting what your after here
again you asked do I expect Arteta to keep his word ….I answered I fear he will
Dan
The last time I checked, It’s Kepa who to took us to a final, not Raya. And, Raya made a worse mistake against Wolves
So, what’s the best argument you can give of wanting Kepa to start with on the bench?
last time I checked Raya is better
A cup final against City at Wembley is different pressure to earlier rounds where both teams make changes
your entitled to your opinion but I find it strange that you watch that final and still can’t see it lol
I wonder why so many before that game were worried about Kepa making a mistake ?
Palace and Chelsea both fielded strong sides against us and we still beat them with Kepa in goal.
I think City at Wembley in a final is tougher then Palace in a Q Final at the Emirates
different mentality, different pressure ,etc
His (Kepa) record at Wembley might have had something to do with it
not that great
And Chelsea in a 2 legged semi final ?
not the same as a Wembley final against Man City
he’s proven throughout his career he’s not good enough when the pressure is huge
I said this before the game and having watched the game I think it was correct lol
can I ask if we get to FA Cup Semi finals but he plays against the Saints would you still not play Raya ?
Has Raya not cost us points in the PL due to mistakes ?
If he plays in all the games then yes.
but you go by probability
you know Raya is better then Kepa
by that logic just keep playing Kepa then and eveytime he messes up you can say ….well Raya makes mistakes as well lol
Same as usual, swerving a question 🙄.
Lehmann was better than Almunia, but Almunia still played in the League Cup Final in ’07 which we also lost. Anything to say about that ?
yeah , a terrible decision
not just the GK position
go look at who Mr Wenger left out of that team .
This was back when he didn’t take it seriously but knowing he was playing Chelsea …..what was he thinking ?
And the 17/18 final when he played the 2nd choice keeper against City, losing 3-0 ? He took that game serious going on the outfield players he chose.
that didn’t bother me as much as I wasnt impressed with Cech and Ospina had come in and done well say like in the FA Cup Final
whereas Raya been one of our best players this season and Kepa has long proved not very good at the highest level with Chelsea
For Reggie
Agree with the Ist and 2nd line especially about the PL. Disagree with the 3rd line. Whilst I would love to win the CL, it is not good enough achievement if we do not win the PL. Remember De Matteo getting sacked after winning the CL and Avram Grant getting sacked after getting to the final and being the better team overall against Man Utd but loosing on pens.
De mateo was a temporary manager and avram grant was on his way out anyway but that doesn’t matter. The fact we have never won the CL would be as big as the league but, the league ia always n01.
Fair point about never winning the CL.
But I have seen so many underserved winners of CL that I do not rate it as highly as the PL.
Very rarely does the PL champion not deserve it after a gruelling 38 match season.
Now, the big question is, how can the players and coach react to this defeat in a final?
I guess we will see from 2 weeks time.
the big game is if we beat Bournemouth we send City to the Bridge 12 points behind
if they beat Chelsea we could be in trouble
City have to improve their league form a lot and we have to be worse for it to be us in trouble. City have not been that good in the league?
no they don’t have to beat us at the Ethiad and Place at the Ethiad and it’s 3 points
hardly unlikely results
then it’s can you trust this Arsenal team to cope with the pressure of playing with a 3 point lead
At this point, City might just pick up form from this massive Cup final win and go on and win every game.
Shocking performance all around honestly, the mentality and bottling questions arise, as they should after such a lame and weak performance.
Havertz in midfield again? Anyone expect anything different, except Arteta?
dire Arteta-ball looked stale out of ideas
Gutless by players, only Saliba can hold his head up
We played scared of a city team coming off 2 draws and a thumping by a weakened Madrid squad.
Arteta and everyone on the pitch deserves the criticism, save Saliba.
How Saka keeps walking into the lineup is pure witchcraft; that lad has been invisible since signing his big contract.
Please, no more talking big before games, the players talk so proudly and boastful, then play like garbage.
Saka just not interested – perhaps if a big bid came in for him we could cash in – pure profit.
He is being carried every game why the f**k he is captain I will never know – the worst choice for captain.
Only you question the bottling mentally and only after we lose
It wasn’t a great performance and we did look a bit toothless but what did you expect when our two main no.10 are out at an important time
A bad mistake by our keeper let them in and until then they were all huff and puff with out the house being blown in
We will win the league which is what we started out to do so how is that being bottlers
Onwards and upwards
And will keep bringing up bottling and mentality when it continues to be an issue.
Billion dollar squad and we still play negative, who to blame?
I expect a manager to “manage” his squad. If 2 10’s are out, not repeat Havertz in midfield which was a failed experiment, change tactics to adapt.
Saka did nothing again, our midfield ineffective, and tactics stale and negative.
But hey, attack fellow gooners that had nothing to do with tactics, selections, or play.
Save your venom for the manager and players who deserve it and earned it.
Durand
Havertz is a natural playmaker. And Arsenal fans were saying that he should be playing behind Gyokeres to unlock him
Now you are complaining. Arsenal fans though 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Doubt we’ll ever win this trophy again that’s 4 finals in a row lost! Never gonna win a final by being defensive and just hoofing the ball up the park to the invincible man! Max dowman was the game changer against everton hasn’t got a look in since.. maybe he’s too attacking for super duper miks liking! Anyway embarrassing performance could be playing until easter Sunday and we wouldn’t have scored against a makeshift man city defence! Maybe now some people spouting about quadruples will realise this team and manager aren’t as amazing as they think. Better win the title at the very least 🙏
*Invisible man*
The mistake Arteta made today was the same mistakes he màde in the last two seasons that cost us PL. Then, the excuse was that we don’t have depth. Today, we had quality replacements on the bench yet, he refused to make prompt changes.
Early yellow slowed down Hincapie. Everyone saw it except Arteta. Calafiori and Skelly were there on the bench. Harvertz and Trosdaard were passengers doing absolutely nothing yet, he left them. White has never been a good right wing back when faced with a fast winger. He also left him. The annoying part is he will always make changes after we conceed goals. This negative tactics has been on all through the season. When some of us said that Arteta will not win any major trophy with this negative football, we are called Artetahates. Thank God the international break will help reset him and players. Some of us now depend on God to show us mercy and help arsenal win EPL this year. We have suffered a lot in the hands of opposition fans in Aba, Nigeria.
Henson Gunner
Simple question
What if Hincapie was replaced before halftime and Calafiori got a yellow card, what would have happened? Replace him to?
Again, Arteta will win the league
Three comments non abusive and not posted. What is wrong with this site?
Why did Arteta and his players change their initial attitude, what happened after 15th minutes of play that they resorted to defensive play, what were they defending? And the manager was there just looking very highly exhausted upstairs. Crystal Palace with less quality of players compared to Arsenal silenced City to lift the FA Cup. It boils down to manager’s mentality and game reading. Arteta never wanted an upgrade for out of form Saka that’s why he went for Noni against Semenyo and Kudus, except if he’s injured Norgaard should have been called up when the midfield collapsed to replace either Zubi or Kai Harvertz. This lethargic disgustful and disgraceful performance of no commitment, no hunger and bite for glory that the manager and players displayed wasn’t what won New Castle and Crystal Palace their trophies against Liverpool and Man City last season but Arteta never learned. You have not scored a goal, on a neutral ground you went into defending in a cup final after 20th minutes something is really missing. I just pray 🙏 that God will help us to win the Epl trophy 🏆 and the club parts way with Arteta. Let his worshipers come after me with their abuses and banters who cares.
Emmanuel Jeremiah
KEPA AND GABRIEL’S INABILITY TO PLAY FROM THE BACK REALLY COST US. ALSO, THERE WAS A LACK OF CREATIVITY IN MIDFIELD DUE TO THE ABSENCES OF ODEGAARD AND EZE
Today our team was laid bare and our issues exposed. A creative and dominant defensive mid fielder ( if we had one the first goal would’ve been avoided) , very good and versatile wide players we need badly. If we are serious and truly ambitious we need to move passed Trossard and Martinelli . They are bang too average to take us to the next level. #COYG
This game needs to be played over and over again before the game at the Etihad, with that arrogant city player doing keepy uppy before the players and Arteta so we make sure we put them to the sword at the Etihad.
I don’t think we are putting them to the sword
Arteta is yet to win at the Ethiad and just went missing in a league cup final
so the idea that he will a month later put them to the sword is a leap
We’ve seen this happen for months now. Decent first half followed by a completely different second half. A nervous retreat deffending deep whilst hoofing the ball forward. Giving the ball away time again. Putting ourselves under pressure. Why? Is this the game plan. Are these the commands from the sideline? The half time talk? If it is, it’s just wrong. It’s sending the wrong signals to other teams and it’s likely to undo our entire season. How is it possible to play two different styles of football every game? Surely this lies with Arteta?
It was an utter humiliation, and that bloke was taking the proverbial, I hope the team will feel they need to put things right. I think we all want that, and i hope the team will feel the fire in their belly to do it.
Most of the comments are very defeatist, yes we lost, basically to a better team on the day. So now apparently we won’t win anything this season, because team selection was crap, tactics were crap, Arteta is crap, Hincapie, Kepa , etc, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pi**ed off we lost and especially after a good first half and very poor second half but come on, one poor defeat to a very good team doesn’t mean all is lost.
it’s because we just lost a cup final lol
who said we don’t win anything ?
No one said we don’t win anything, they said we won’t win anything. Read the comments again!
Exactly GB. The meltdown is almost hilarious to watch especially because it was expected. The only thing I think Arteta was guilty of is not making the subs early in the second half when it was obvious that Haverts (who is coming back from a long term injury) was tired, effectively eliminating our out ball and efficiency marking from the front. The first half went pretty well overall. We had good chances that were not taken and defended well. It was a tight game and the 2 goals in quick succession just took the game away. I think most fans just got caught up with Quadruple hype without realizing that no team in England has ever done the quadruple and very few (both Manchester clubs) have done triple. I recommend everyone just holds on to their hats and see how the rest of the season unfolds. A premier league win is the goal. Anything else is a good bonus.
No excuses we play these games to win especiallycup finals. The EPL is still to be won let’s not mask our shoddy performance by something we haven’t won.
No one said Hncapie was crap BUT anyone who knows football could see, he was now out of the game since he couldnt play at his usual aggresive self. So yes arteta is crap
The worse thing about this result is that city was there for the taking….anyone else bar havertz and saka would have scored early on. Saliba had arland in his pocket and till his yellow hincapie controlled his side. Then the novice went back to rote…..play not to lose. Notice how city did not press us early on?? They knew we didnt know how to play out from a non press and we went to the long balls. Poor Tactics again
Blaming Kepa for the loss is unfair, I would blame Mikel Arteta, why didn’t he make earlier substitutions? I saw it and we all saw it with our own eyes that our midfield was completely dismantled. And I believe if he would made earlier subsititions, we would not have conceded those type of goals
It was always a 50/50 game going in, but we were so sterile in the second half, very disappointing.
I would definitely need to see someone like Tonali, Anderson or Wharton replace Zubimendi although we still need him in the squad. I wouldn’t sell Martinelli or Trossard but would definitely ship out Madueke, White, Havertz, Jesus, Odegaard, and Kepa. Martinelli and Trossard have proved before that they are very dangerous playing on the counter. We rarely score when we pass into the goal area. Martinelli is fast and like Inzaghi very good playing on the defenders shoulders but am surprised the coach still chooses our slow passing game. NO ATTACKING PLAYER GETS BETTER UNDER ARTETA THEY ACTUALLY DECLINE BECAUSE OF THE WAY THEY ARE COACHED. Trossard came as one of the finishers in the EPL now he can’t even shoot. Saka is always doubled up and unless we play fast attacking football he will be average every game. There is no freedom in attack even our defenders like Saliba no longer runs through the midfield initiating attacks. Lewis Skelly who is one of our best ball carriers is rotting on the bench whilst Zubimendi is busy passing backwards and sideways.
Chasing goals Arteta shifts Rice to right back leaving an ineffective Zubimendi to run the midfield on his own.
Agree with all you said BUT zubi is poor simply because of the nivices tactics. Give him his freedom and you will see his class. How is it that almost every midfielder, winger and attackrr has deteriorated under arteta??
Never been a big League Cup fan but losing without a fight hurts. Cherki’s keepy uppy didn’t bother me but I bet he got a mouthful from Pep – he definitely looked unhappy at the time.
We’re still going to win the PL though!!!
We should have Eze and Timber back for the Bournemouth game – that is a must win to get us back on track. I think Arteta should play the same team – with a few tweaks (yes, Madueke for Saka and start Calafiori) – against Southampton a week before.
When will you guys learn that our poor attacking is down to the tactics and not the players. We are very slow in buildup and our midfield is extremely poor in link up play and in the offense and only good defensively. It will never change, partey and xhaka were the reason we were good offensively before.
I think we’ll still stumble across the line to claim the EPL title but my joy will be more one of relief. Title number 14 is important more for the record books after such a long void. In terms of caring about Arsenal, I’m almost over it. There is nothing to
be proud of in how we play. What did we expect from this starting line up. a rejuvenated Saka pulling off Messi type miracles ? Trossard regaining his legs and tearing their defence to pieces? Harvetz playing like a sixty million pound impact player?, our two inverted centre halves making incisive overlapping runs and sending dangerous balls into their penalty area, our midfield adapting to the tempo of the game and matching Silva and Rodri,Arteta and his assistants coming up with a positive game plan which would be flexible enough to cover the various scenarios? No. We played as boringly and predictably as our starting line up looked on paper. The players nominated for the big clar out in Summer pretty much choose themselves. They have nothing left to offer and will continue to let the team down when it counts. Ideally I’d like to see Arteta out, hopefully through Real Madrid making him an offer he couldn’t refuse, but I can’t set that happening. Barring that at least he should consider changing his coaching staff. First to go should be his ” soul mate” Heinze, relegated to managing some small time club in Spain or Argentina where he has no other option than to resort to parking the bus and using time wasting tactics.
Actually arteta isnt crap just below average…on the same level as lampard….can coach lesser teams but not a big club. His billion pounds spend has glossed his ability but wont win us a trophy as his tactics arent good enough. Almost like a kompany…almost because bundesliga not as strong a league as the epl
If Arsenal players don’t dust this off then we might drop some points in the EPL and it swings to Man City who will be rejuvenated with this Cup final win.
So far this season they have responded well after defeats, hopefully they do that again for this last 2 months left.
I’ve been an Arsenal fan since 2003 when I was 9 years old.
2004 – EPL trophy
2005 – FA Cup
2006 – UCL final 😔
2011 – EFL Cup final 😔
2014 – FA Cup
2015 – FA Cup
2017 – FA Cup
2019 – EUPL final 😔
2020 – FA Cup
2026 – EFL Cup 😔
P.S – Not including Community Shields.
I hope I can update this year 2026 happily come May.
I still have a very little belief that we will win something this year.
and when you write it like that can you see why I said it was arrogant to think this team, with this style of football was suddenly going to win 4 trophies
I never said or believed we will win 4 trophies.
I usually agree with you on most of your opinions because you’re among the realistic ones here.
I skipped
2018 – EFL Cup final 😔
That’s making it 10 finals since 2005 that I have watched as an Arsenal fan for 23 years now, and we have won 5 of them and lost 5 so far.
That is –
1 EPL trophy and 5 FA Cups.
6 trophies I have witnessed as an Arsenal fan for 23 years.
That’s not quite good for a big club.
SJ
What about the 2007 Carabao cup final loss to Chelsea?
Awful performance, the players looked scared on the big stage while City looked calm and knew how to get the job done, that 2nd half was painful to watch, Kepa handing it to City for the second time after he did it for Chelsea years ago, well done son 🙄 Arteta now must deliver the premier league at a minimum, absolutely unforgivable if he let’s City overtake us from this point, a sackable offence if that happens.
The one word I can us for some of our people’s reactions is that I am flabbergasted by their emotions! It is true we lost the final but other than a one day disappointment what else is there? Was this our major target? Does it have any bearing on EPL and Champions League? Didn’t we lose to Liverpool and still came back stronger and won many games in a row? Does anyone realise that we didn’t have some of our key players in the game: Odegaard, Eze, Timber and Raya? I will not talk of Merino because he might not feature again this season. All the four I have mentioned are likely to be back after the international break. Don’t you think they will have an impact on the team? Why then should some people behave as if is the end of everything? I know we have different temperaments but this should not be the reaction to the loss of a minor trophy! There is still all to play for. Fortunately for us we don’t play again until after 4th April. This will give a breather to many of our players! Perhaps this has awakened us to the fact that nothing should be taken for granted. I urge all of us to cheer up and support our team till the end.
Arteta is to blame for the loss. Calafiori should have come in after the interval, considering he was extremely careful because of the yellow card. It was evident that Kia was not in the game and Saka has been bang average. Norgard should be starting such game ahead of Zubi, but Arteta knows better. I’m happy it ended the way it did because we didn’t deserve anything from the game.
Yes, this game can have a huge bearing on the rest of the other games, if the players and coach don’t rise up from it.
I would like to see how they react to this loss and 2 weeks is just too far to get a response.
Wise words
However, I understand the disappointment and dismay and the need to let off steam. The second half was dismal. I missed the first half entirely but good things have been said about it, but the second showed what I can only describe as a complete lack of ambition and mind numbing stagnation.
Guardiola’s joy at full time had me reaching for the remote control. His and City’s season was rescued there and then even if they don’t win anything else. Arsenal still have to wait and see.
Some of the big players were missing and others like Havertz and White are still working their way back into full match fitness which is part of the equation. Only when it was too late did they launch forward. Who wants to watch sideways and backwards football or Kepa unable to make his mind up with the ball at his feet at a cup final when you need to be playing for a win?
I know individual games and opponents vary but having been at the Emirates for the CL game on Tuesday I expected- which perhaps, I shouldn’t have, a similar experience yesterday and for Arsenal to win or if they lost, to put up a fight. That popped like the balloons at my little granddaughter’s birthday party.
Sue it’s worth watching the first half on iPlayer, as we were actually pretty good and put City under some pressure. Trafford made good early saves from Saka & Havertz, but City slowly got into the game and finished the half better, and from then on, you know the rest.
Ha! Not iPlayer as it was ITV, so on ITVX then.
Very disappointed in the result especially the 2nd half where we crumbled mentally. We started the match good and should have punished City with that triple chance early on, I don’t think they would have recovered. We also unlucky to hit the post twice in the 2nd half. It was always gonna be 50-50 in a final vs City and Pep, there will be some overreaction by the usual suspects no doubts and also some fans were overconfident and borderline arrogant thinking we would easily win.
With everything already said and done, It has occurred tom me that Arsenal sometimes seem to play as if enveloped in a straight-jacket.
At the moment Mr Saka seems too slow and Mr Martinelli seems to have lost the composure he had when he first played for the team. But I have always liked both players and hope they can find their best form soon.
That Result settled Qs as to whether our back-up goal keeper ought to be bi-passed in favor of the primary.
This argument had been addressed satirically in a 1966 Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbet sketch [**The Class System***], by comparison Kepa has earned for himself that character personified by Corbett who despite everything grew to know his place.
This was a one off game against a very good, tough and motivated opponent. Eventually, the decisive factor was the error by Kepa even though the team as a whole did not play to the levels they could.
As far those continuing to harp on about “arrogance” and “quadruples” it is important to have some perspective. This was primarily a media driven narrative and few Arsenal fans claimed that Arsenal were going to win all these titles. It is a rather mean-spirited of some people to be implying that many Arsenal fans are arrogant simply because of the exuberance of a minority.
We should also note that Arsenal are well-placed to challenge strongly for other titles this season and this could still end up being a great season.
Very well said. It’s the minority of fans that were shouting for a quadruple.
Now reality has done on them.
I just pray that the players don’t get demoralized and go and drop too many points in this remaining 7 EPL games that is left.
Well with the same question asked of this Arsenal team for the past three seasons, can they produce when it matters. Well the first question is a resounding no, they’ve reverted to type yet again.
They’ve still got three chances to get it right, but if they don’t show more ambition in games I doubt they will.
City as I feared before the game had more creative player’s, they at least tried to make things happen.
Our forwards just seemed to amble through the game. And nothing confirmed this more than the half-hearted attempt from Havertz when through on goal in the first half. That just summed the team up for me.
We got exactly what we deserved in this game. And just a word of warning to those who think the title race is done, think again. City win their game in hand and then beat us at home, they will be 3 points behind us.
Squeaky bum time, and we know how loudly Arsenal’s bum squeaks when the pressure is really on don’t we.
What a sad performance from the team, but are we really surprised.
DEREK
Yes. It’s not over
But if we beat Bournemouth and City drops points against Chelsea, then I don’t think I will see City recovering from that with 6 matches remaining
Arsenal doesn’t have one attacking player that opponents fear. I love that they play as a team, and that usually gets the job done, but they need a player or two that can step up when it’s go time.