Ian Wright has slammed Mikel Arteta's decision to start Kepa Arrizabalaga over David Raya in the Carabao Cup final. The 31-year-old goalkeeper made a couple of grave mistakes during Arsenal's defeat to Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.
Nico O'Reilly broke the deadlock on the hour mark when Kepa spilled a cross in the six-yard box. The 21-year-old defender doubled his side's lead a few moments later, scoring another header from close range.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, Wright claimed the Spain international 'handed' Manchester City the trophy. The Gunners legend said: "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 - [Martin] 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 ourselves.
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"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."
Wright later added: "Everyone's been knocking City this season, they've not been quite the same, but what they've shown again in a final is what they're capable of doing.
"They win big games. They controlled it, but we made it too easy for them to control it. Too many people had bad games for us. The fact is it's a final and a mistake from the second goalkeeper has cost us.
"They scored soon after that, and we lost our way in the game before we could get the subs on."
Questioning the mentality of Mikel Arteta's side, Wright said: "For them to come out and play this poorly in a game of this magnitude for Arsenal, people will ask questions. But Arsenal's project is about trying to win that league, so this might be the catalyst to make them understand, 'we can do this'.
"We won't be playing with Kepa in goal, we'll probably have [Eberechci] Eze back, we might have [Martin] Odegaard back, so it's a different team that's going to be out there.
"But the mentality has to be much better than it was today - we can't play for 15 minutes then clock off because we can't break them down."
Singing from the same hymn sheet, Jamie Redknapp said: "I know people will say it's sentiment and he played in the earlier rounds, but Kepa is not as good as Raya. That's why he is the number two.
"So why, in a major cup final when you're trying to get across the line, and you've not won a trophy in so long, do you decide to play him? You have to take responsibility for that. That is a monumental error.
"He's not a bad goalkeeper - he's not as good as Raya. It has backfired big time. You could say Trafford isn't the number one either but he made three really good saves and after that, hardly had to touch the ball. It was easy for him.
"It's not me being wise after the event, I said it before the game."
