In the moment Man City players raised the League Cup title, Arsenal all stood watching in a very gloomy state. They had lost all morale even though this was just a secondary tournament with the amount of money for the winning team not equal to the weekly salary of many Premier League stars.
However, on the journey to Wembley, Arsenal was very serious, looking at how they played in the semi-finals with Chelsea is understandable. There is no room for experimentation, do not consider this a secondary arena, do not give up for a small bonus. Mikel Arteta's team tried their best to reach the final match but then lost.
The last time Arsenal raised the League Cup title was more than 30 years ago, when Tony Adams was still the club's captain. In his glorious career with the "Gunners", Adams won many titles but also failed quite a few. One of the former center-back's very famous sayings: "You learn more from failure than victory".
Arsenal lost to Man City in a match that almost could not create any breakthroughs against the opponent. Outside the pitch, Mikel Arteta used almost all substitutions but in the end still could not put the ball into the opponent's net even once. The Spanish strategist has never said that Arsenal set a 4-game ambition this season, but the defeat in the League Cup final left many thoughts for both coaches and players.
We need to turn today's defeat into motivation for the remaining race of the season in the next 2 months. The Arsenal team will try to turn the rest of this season into the best time" - Mikel Arteta shared after the match.
Arteta was also asked about the decision to use Kepa instead of David Raya. Kepa made the mistake that led to the first goal conceded, but the compatriot coach did not have any words to blame his student.
Arsenal played well against Man City at some points in the first half, but then every minute that passed, they lost that advantage. The players no longer created pressure, wrong passes began to appear and the defensive formation was stretched out in a passive way.
4 weeks later, the two teams will rematch at the Etihad in the second leg of the Premier League. Arsenal has suffered another defeat against Man City to understand more about what needs to be improved before the rematch after the FIFA Days in March. The point gap between the two teams is safe in the rankings, but just one disadvantageous result occurs, the race will again be breathtaking for Arsenal like what they experienced in the previous 3 seasons.
The League Cup final is the first opportunity to win a title this season and Arsenal has missed it. From now until the end of May, they have 3 more opportunities in much more prestigious arenas. This defeat does not reflect the entire image of Arsenal this season, but they need to avoid repeating the same mistakes in important decisive moments.
The Premier League and Champions League are the most expensive titles, and with the FA Cup, if they can reach Wembley again at the end of this season, Arsenal needs to remember very carefully today's lessons.
Although very painful after this defeat, it is not the time for Arsenal to become sentimental. They need to get up immediately because big goals are still ahead and no arena has fallen into a negative state. Arsenal has stood up very well after many stumbles since the beginning of the season and they need to continue to maintain that as Mikel Arteta shared after the match.
This is normal in football and now is the time for us to retake control of everything, overcome this pain and disappointment. I am sure that the team will overcome this challenge as they did in the past.
