Arsenal have just been beaten by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
The Gunners started the game well and looked good for a good portion of the first half. They should’ve also scored through Kai Havertz after a lovely move.
In the second half, Arsenal looked like they had forgotten how to play football, and a mistake from Kepa Arrizabalaga gifted Manchester City the lead.
That mistake killed the game, but Ian Wright has pointed the finger at another player for his performance on Sunday – Martin Zubimendi.
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Ian Wright criticises Martin Zubimendi after Arsenal lost to Manchester City
Arsenal were shockingly poor against Manchester City in the second half.
The Gunners just couldn’t get out of their first third and play through the press, and that gave them no chance of success.
Apart from William Saliba and perhaps Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Jesus when they came on, no Arsenal player turned up in the final at Wembley.
Wright, like all of us, is hugely disappointed with the result, and he feels Zubimendi should’ve fared a lot better than he did to help the Gunners get out of their own third.
He said on Sky Sports: “Man City went into a 4-2-4, they pressed us high, we knocked it long, we couldn’t hold it.
“We didn’t have any midfielders – Zubimendi’s numbers will be interesting to see. I don’t think he held onto the ball. We couldn’t get on it [the ball] to get our team playing; we couldn’t get out.
“It all just fell in on ourselves. The goalkeeper’s mistake handed it to them a bit.
“It’s a very disappointing one. We’ve got to front up and say ‘OK, we’ll go again’, but it was a poor performance for me.”
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Martin Zubimendi’s stats vs Manchester City are so poor
Zubimendi actually started the game fairly well.
The Arsenal number 36 created a big chance for Havertz that should’ve been converted, but the German’s shot was saved.
Apart from that, Zubimendi didn’t do much.
In his 90 minutes on the pitch, the Spaniard completed just 23 of his 33 attempted passes, maintaining a passing accuracy of 70%. He also lost possession 11 times. (Sofascore)
When Manchester City pressed high, Zubimendi should’ve been the player to offer himself for a pass and get Arsenal higher up the pitch.
However, he was nowhere to be seen, and that contributed to the Gunners looking terrible in the second half.
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