"We couldn't": Ian Wright questions £60m Arsenal star who lost 11x possession vs Man City
Arsenal suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
The Gunners had an impressive start against the Cityzens and induced multiple saves from goalkeeper James Trafford.
However, the club struggled to hold onto regular possession after the break as Man City were thoroughly dominant.
A goalkeeping mistake from Kepa Arrizabalaga handed the opening goal to Pep Guardiola’s side.
Nico O’Reilly, who broke the deadlock, went on to score Man City’s second goal minutes later.
Arsenal hit the woodwork on a couple of occasions, but did not do enough to deserve the trophy.
Speaking after the game, club legend Ian Wright said that it was a ‘poor performance’ from the Gunners in what was a big occasion.
Wright admitted that the goalkeeper’s mistake changed the momentum, but also questioned Martin Zubimendi’s performance.
The 62-year-old felt the Spaniard could not hold onto possession to orchestrate proceedings from the heart of the club’s midfield.
He told Sky Sports: “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 – 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.
“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.”
Zubimendi had a tough outing in the centre of the park for the Gunners. He had a passing accuracy of 70 percent and lost possession on 11 occasions.
The £60 million signing was good in the air but won just one of five ground duels. He was dribbled past twice and struggled to control proceedings.
However, the entire blame can’t be placed on him alone. Declan Rice had an equally frustrating game and failed to carry the ball forward in the second half.
There were several misplaced passes. He lost the ball as many as 15 times. Hence, it is fair to say that Zubimendi and Rice failed to turn up for the occasion.
The international break has come at the right time for Arsenal. They have the opportunity to reset before the FA Cup quarter-final at Southampton in early April.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
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