Jamie Carragher says Arsenal star is 'not good enough' after Man City defeat

Jamie Carragher analysing Man City’s win over Arsenal (Picture: Sky Sports)

Jamie Carragher criticised Mikel Arteta ’s decision to play Kepa Arrizabalaga ahead of David Raya in Arsenal ’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City .

Arrizabalaga has featured for Arsenal in their domestic cup competitions this season and Arteta continued to put his faith in the former Chelsea goalkeeper for Sunday’s final at Wembley .

But the decision backfired on Arteta, who watched on as Arrizabalaga made a terrible error to gift Nico O’Reilly an opening goal on the hour mark .

Arsenal were marginally the better side in the first half and almost went ahead through Kai Havertz who was denied by Man City back-up goalkeeper James Trafford.

But Pep Guardiola’s side took control in the second half and O’Reilly scored two goals in four minutes to leave the Premier League leaders stunned.

Carragher described Arrizabalaga’s mistake as an ‘absolute shocker’ and criticised Arteta’s decision not to play first-choice goalkeeper Raya in the final.

‘The goalkeeper has had an absolute shocker as he has done in another couple of cup finals,’ Liverpool legend and ex-England defender Carragher told Sky Sports .

Kepa Arrizabalaga had an ‘absolute shocker’ (Picture: Getty)

‘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.

‘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…

Mikel Arteta during the Carabao Cup final (Picture: Getty)

‘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.

@metrosportuk Kepa won’t want to watch that one back 😬 Manchester City beat Arsenal 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final following a huge mistake from the Gunners’ goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, which lead to a quick brace from Nico O’Reilly. #kepa #arsenal #mancity #carabaocup #oreilly ♬ original sound – Metro Sport

‘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.’

"Any regrets about the choice of goalkeeper?""No, I would do it again."Mikel Arteta defends Kepa Arrizabalaga's mistakes in Arsenal's Carabao Cup final defeat to Man City. pic.twitter.com/PLovrKCFgj — Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 22, 2026

Asked whether the Arsenal players would have backed Arteta’s 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.’

Speaking after the defeat, Arsenal boss Arteta claimed he had no regrets over his team selection .

‘I would do it again,’ Arteta said. ‘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.’

By winning his fifth Carabao Cup, Guardiola ended Arsenal’s quadruple hopes and may have delivered a psychological blow to his title rivals.

The Gunners remain in the driving seat to win their first Premier League title in 22 years, however, boasting a nine-point lead over Man City.