Mikel Arteta Makes Outrageous Claim in Defense of Kepa Arrizabalaga Decision

Arteta has taken a bold stance while explaining why he left David Raya watching on from the sidelines for the 2026 Carabao Cup final.

Kepa Arrizabalaga was a contentious pick for the 2026 Carabao Cup final. | Visionhaus/Getty Images

Mikel Arteta insisted that he would make the same decision again to start Kepa Arrizabalaga for the 2026 Carabao Cup final despite losing the showpiece fixture at Wembley Stadium against Manchester City thanks to a blunder from his stand-in.

Arrizabalaga is Arsenal’s clear No. 2 behind David Raya and underscored that status with the defining moment of Sunday’s final. After a goalless opening hour the Basque shot-stopper tried (and failed) to catch Rayan Cherki’s chipped cross from the byline, befuddled by the rising ball which dropped for Nico O’Reilly to head City in front.

There was nothing Arrizabalaga could do about O’Reilly’s second of the afternoon—another header at the back post was more of a collective failing from the Gunners—yet it was easy to pin a lot of blame for the day’s disappointment upon the luckless stand-in.

Arteta, however, wasn’t having any of that.

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Arteta Defends His Decision and ‘Outstanding’ Kepa

There were more Carabao Cup final woes for Kepa Arrizabalaga. | Glyn KIRK/AFP/Getty Images

Arteta built up his decision as a question of principles. “I have to do what I feel is right, which is honest and which is fair,” he told assembled media after the final whistle. “I think we have an outstanding goalkeeper in Kepa. He’s played all the [games in the] competition and I think it would have been very unfair for him and for the team to do something different.”

It was put to Arteta whether Arrizabalaga’s involvement in cup competitions had been part of the agreement which took him from Chelsea to Arsenal over the summer. After all, the 31-year-old was Bournemouth’s No. 1 during a loan spell last season and remains the most expensive goalkeeper in the history of the sport. That suggestion was bluntly quashed.

“I can never promise a player to play certain competitions,” Arteta insisted, “they have to earn it and do enough.

“We are guided by what we see. What he’s done in the competition, and how he helped us to get us to the final, I believe it was the right thing to do. Errors are part of football, and unfortunately it happened in a crucial moment.”

In typically defiant fashion, Arteta stuck by his decision. “I would do it again,” he told Sky Sports.

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Sentimentality Bites Arteta

Mikel Arteta (center) dropped the ball metaphorically, while Kepa did so literally. | Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Getty Images

The concept of using different goalkeepers for different competitions is nothing new in the English game.

As far back as the first season of an organized top flight, 1888–89, Preston North End used James Trainer for league duties while Dr. Bob Mills-Roberts was saved for the FA Cup as the side which would be christened ‘The Invincibles’ won both trophies without losing a single game. Mills-Roberts kept his place for the FA Cup final on that occasion, keeping a clean sheet in a 3–0 win, but history hasn’t always been so kind to the stand-in.

Pep Guardiola benefitted from his show of faith in James Trafford against Arsenal on Sunday. Gianluigi Donnarumma’s understudy made three fine saves to keep City in the tie earlier in the first half, yet this appeared to be no great show of sentimentality.

“Players can be happy, unhappy. It is what it is,” Guardiola shrugged after announcing his decision ahead of kickoff. “They have to be here to do the best they can do and after we will see what happens at the end of the season. The important thing is they have to be ready.”

Guardiola named his backup keeper to start the 2020 (Claudio Bravo) and 2021 (Zack Steffen) Carabao Cup finals, both of which City won. However, back in 2019 he dropped Arijanet Muric for Ederson after starting the up and coming Kosovan in each of the five previous rounds of the competition.

That decision also paid off as Ederson saved Chelsea’s first penalty in a triumphant shootout to seal the title. Incidentally, his opposite goalkeeper in those series of spot kicks just so happened to be a certain Kepa Arrizabalaga.

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