Arsenal failed to win one of what they hoped would be four trophies this season by losing to Man City and former midfielder Emmanuel Petit was not happy.
Petit watched on like many other Gunners fans as a mistake from Kepa handed City the trophy. It compounded the stopper’s miserable Wembley record and allowed City to go and win.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has been criticised heavily for going with Kepa over David Raya and now Petit has weighed in on the topic as well.
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Emmanuel Petit slams Mikel Arteta’s decision to go with Kepa over David Raya
Arteta went with Kepa after seeing him help the team to the final, while City boss Pep Guardiola also went with James Trafford over Gigi Donnarumma.
However, Petit disagreed with Arteta’s logic.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, Petit claimed that Arsenal had to try and win the game and ultimately, Arteta got it wrong going with Kepa.
“I’m thinking when you play a final, when you play a final I don’t care how you play, you have to win it and that means you pick your best players,” Petit commented.
“For me, this is the big difference. I can understand what Arteta said about Kepa and it’s nice to say that but at this point, don’t make feelings. We are talking about a trophy, winning a game. You have to make choices for the best of the club and the best of the fans.
“The fact is, this mistake killed the game.”
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but Mikel Arteta took a big risk
It has been mentioned that had Kepa not made the mistake and Arsenal had won the game, then nothing would have been made of the decision at all.
However, the fact is he did make the mistake. And Arsenal did lose the game.
Mikel Arteta knew he would be opening himself up to criticism and Petit pointed out in further comments that Arsenal hadn’t won for so long that it should have been the strongest team possible going out at Wembley.
Ultimately, a manager lives and dies by his big decisions and in hindsight, Arteta did get this wrong.
Nevertheless, football is a squad game and it wasn’t all Kepa’s fault. Arsenal simply didn’t turn up as a unit and when they face City in the league in a few weeks, the pressure is on massively.
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