{"id":580706,"date":"2026-04-04T01:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T01:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/580706\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T01:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T01:17:08","slug":"like-a-ball-of-poison-mikel-arteta-admits-to-pain-from-arsenals-carabao-cup-final-loss-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/580706\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Like a ball of poison\u2019: Mikel Arteta admits to pain from Arsenal\u2019s Carabao Cup final loss | Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mikel Arteta has admitted that Arsenal\u2019s defeat by title rivals Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final last month<\/a> left him feeling like he had a \u201cball of poison\u201d in his stomach but has vowed to use that painful experience to ensure his team ends the season with silverware.<\/p>\n

Arsenal were totally outplayed in the second half at Wembley a fortnight ago as two goals for Nico O\u2019Reilly enabled Pep Guardiola\u2019s side to land a psychological blow over the Premier League leaders and end their hopes of an unprecedented quadruple. Arteta refused to confirm whether Kepa Arrizabalaga would start against Southampton in the sixth round of the FA Cup at St Mary\u2019s on Saturday evening after the reserve goalkeeper\u2019s mistake led to O\u2019Reilly\u2019s opener.<\/p>\n

But having still not won a trophy since his first season in charge, the Arsenal manager insisted their defeat to City would haunt him for \u201cthe next 30 years\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the first part, it\u2019s like a ball of poison that you have in your tummy,\u201d said Arteta when asked whether he had spent the international break stewing over the final.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake that out as quick as possible. How can I use that to make myself better, to make the team better? There is a part that I think has to be there and I think this is not going to go in the next 30 years. Because when you have the opportunity to win a final in Wembley, you have to get it done. So that has to stay there.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s part of who you\u2019re going to be in the next few weeks, in the next few months, in the next few years. Learn from that and make sure that that fire is still in that belly, remembering what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kepa Arrizabalaga has been Arsenal\u2019s starting goalkeeper in this season\u2019s FA Cup. Photograph: Allstar Picture Library Ltd\/Nigel French\/Apl\/Sportsphoto<\/p>\n

Arteta \u2013 who playfully suggested that his goalkeeper against Southampton would be \u201cEuropean, under 32, right-footed and speaks at least two languages\u201d \u2013 has been criticised for not selecting his preferred No 1, David Raya, at Wembley and sticking with Arrizabalaga. But given that the former Chelsea goalkeeper started in Arsenal\u2019s FA Cup victories against Portsmouth, Wigan and Mansfield, he is expected to get the nod again despite his costly mistake against City.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m never going to judge a player or make a decision because he\u2019s made an error,\u201d said Arteta. \u201cAttitude, behaviour, yes 100%. An error is part of football and anybody can do it. He\u2019s got so much experience and he\u2019s been through all kinds of different scenarios in his career, so he\u2019s more than ready to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Otherwise Arteta kept his cards close to his chest regarding whether any of the 11 players who withdrew from international squads last week would face Southampton, although he did confirm Thomas Tuchel\u2019s assertion that Declan Rice is operating at only 70% fitness and that has \u201cbeen going on for a while\u201d. Piero Hincapi\u00e9 and Noni Madueke are both out of the Southampton game\u2013 though Arteta is hopeful the latter will return in time for next week\u2019s trip to Sporting in the Champions League \u2013 while Martin \u00d8degaard and Jurrien Timber could be in contention to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s part of the narrative. But I understand that,\u201d said Arteta of the criticism Arsenal have received from some quarters for the large number of withdrawals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it\u2019s been the same when we had a lot of players from the national team injured in the past. The same emphasis. Because then it\u2019s a fair comment. So, it\u2019s fine. Let\u2019s see who is available or not tomorrow and maybe we have to change the narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta has admitted that Arsenal\u2019s defeat by title rivals Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-580706","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-soccer","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}