Ben White earned a rare start for Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final, but he might have felt frustrated that he was joined in the starting XI by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Mikel Arteta’s first-ever defeat at Wembley Stadium was ultimately deserved, as Arsenal were outplayed by Manchester City under the arch.
Arsenal lacked in so many areas, making Pep Guardiola’s side the deserved winners of the 2026 Carabao Cup, but things could have been so different.
Arteta has been slammed for starting Kepa Arrizabalaga, who represented one of many mistakes the Arsenal manager made on the day.
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It wasn’t only Kepa’s error that led to Man City’s opener that was an issue, as his distribution was abysmal in comparison to David Raya’s, which did not please Ben White.
- READ MORE: Mikel Arteta should have known better: Kepa was always going to let Arsenal down at Wembley
Kepa Arrizabalaga limited Ben White in the Carabao Cup final
It’s been a really tough season for White, who would’ve been delighted to be named in the starting XI in the cup final at Wembley.
What the right-back would have desired was the usual service he gets from Raya: quick, precise and allows White to get forward on the right side, usually to link with Bukayo Saka.
This was not the case with Kepa between the sticks, as the Spaniard took an age on the ball, which one piece of footage from the game revealed.
Kepa spent almost 40 seconds rolling the ball under his feet before playing it safe to William Saliba, seeing play recycle and start again.
In that time, White had taken up a strong position behind Man City’s first line of press, but for all of his movement and desire to be played the ball, his request was ignored by his goalkeeper.
Instead of getting the ball upfield to White, as Raya ordinarily would, play was slowed to a walking pace, and Arsenal were painfully predictable.
What makes White so impressive is how he links with Saka and others on the right, which he barely did against Man City, something Kepa is partly responsible for.
I think Jamie Carragher was spot on here, do you agree?
The footage was as damning as it was in real-time, and on social media, Arsenal fans reacted as expected.
“This was the exact moment I knew we were in trouble, I couldn’t believe my own eyes,” one X user said, adding, “The pass was right there.”
Another accused Kepa of playing too safely.
“Kepa was too scared to attempt a pass to White to “make a mistake” then makes one anyway.”
Others took a moment to envisage what Raya would have done in that moment, as Kepa failed to dispatch White.
- “Raya makes the pass to White, and we’re up the pitch with numbers.”
- “Raya picks this pass every day of the week.”
A frustrating afternoon for Arsenal and for White was partly caused by Kepa, but the summer signing wasn’t responsible for how poorly the Gunners played upfield.
All in all, it was a match that Arsenal need to study heavily ahead of the run-in, as performances of that level are not title-winning worthy.
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