Ahead of a final you will be told to have no regrets but Arsenal will have plenty as they lost the League Cup final to Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, and only really showed up for 15 minutes at the start.
Mikel Arteta looked like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing as he stood on the sidelines. After a bright start where they forced James Trafford into a great triple save, Arsenal wilted.
They retreated into their shell. They only really went close again through a late Gabriel Jesus header. They panicked and were sloppy and just couldn’t keep the ball or get any rhythm going. It was all too safe. Too conservative.
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Arsenal have been guilty of that in previous years when they were on the cusp of winning trophies and it happened again, in a very big way, at Wembley. Just a week on from Arteta being bold with his attacking selections and getting a huge win late on at home against Everton, which seemed to have swung the title race massively in Arsenal’s favor, they reverted to being more pragmatic in a key moment.
Whether that was by design from Arteta or due to a lack of belief from Arsenal’s players on the pitch, it is not a good sign.
It tells us this title race is far from over. Yes, they do have a nine-point lead over Man City (who have a game in-hand) but City now have the psychological edge heading into their massive clash at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, April 19. But things can change very quickly.
City have just shown how they can totally nullify Arsenal’s midfield and attacking threat by using their quality on the ball as their composure in the vital moment was massive. Arsenal will no doubt themselves not only in the title race but in other big moments between now and the end of the season as they chase a treble.
Of course, Arsenal losing Eberechi Eze to injury for this final was a real blow and Arteta deciding to play second-choice goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga over David Raya was a huge call which was ultimately the wrong one as his big mistake led to City’s opener.
But the overall way Arsenal played showed they felt the pressure of the occasion.
It weighed heavy on their shoulders, just like it has in recent years, and until they can prove that is no longer the case late in the season when the trophies are dished out, there will always be concerns that Arsenal will ‘bottle it’ again.
Manchester City have just proven that even with several new players who are either young or winning the first trophy of their careers (Trafford, Khusanov, O’Reilly, Semenyo and Cherki were superb), there is still a core group of Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Erling Haaland, Nathan Ake and many others, leading them who are serial winners and thrive in these big moments.
This League Cup final win sets up the narrative for the final months of the season that City are ruthless and Arsenal can’t close it out. It means that a title race which looked done and dusted is now very much back on.
