{"id":202307,"date":"2026-03-23T11:53:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T11:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/202307\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T11:53:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T11:53:27","slug":"keeping-it-real-a-lesson-for-arteta-plus-griezmann-set-for-orlando-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/202307\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping it real: A lesson for Arteta? Plus: Griezmann set for Orlando switch"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic FC \u26bd is The Athletic\u2019s daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hello! A fifth Carabao Cup for Pep Guardiola. A morning of goalkeeping reflection for Mikel Arteta.<\/p>\n

Coming up:<\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude2c Kepa\u2019s Wembley blunder<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Orlando to seal<\/a> Griezmann deal<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd3d When big clubs go down<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83e\ude8f Goal assist\u2026 from a divot<\/p>\n

Caught out: Kepa blunder costs Arsenal as Man City win League Cup\"\"<\/p>\n

Life as a goalkeeper can mean money for old rope. It doesn\u2019t take a genius to work out that the composition of a football team\u2019s line-up leaves room for only one.<\/p>\n

In England, for two reasons, second-choice options come out to play in the Carabao Cup. Reason one is that the sheer number of fixtures imposed on top clubs makes squad rotation essential, and the Carabao Cup is the competition where coaches cut corners (a lesser priority, generally speaking). Reason two is that even the most patient reserve expects a game from time to time.<\/p>\n

So it was that Kepa Arrizabalaga turned out for Arsenal in yesterday\u2019s final at Wembley and committed the error, above, that set Manchester City on their way to winning it<\/a>. His fumble of a cross early in the second half, presenting Nico O\u2019Reilly with a header he couldn\u2019t miss, lit the fuse of a contest which seemed to have no fuse, until Kepa\u2019s butterfingers moment.<\/p>\n

In the biggest of competitions \u2014 the Premier League and the Champions League \u2014 Mikel Arteta invests everything in David Raya as Arsenal\u2019s last line of defence. Raya isn\u2019t error-free, but he\u2019s the safer pair of hands. But having trusted Kepa throughout their Carabao Cup run, he wasn\u2019t going to drop him at the last hurdle \u2014 even though, as James McNicholas writes, doing so would have been \u201cbrutally pragmatic\u201d<\/a> and typical of Arteta\u2019s thinking.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth saying that at the opposite end of the pitch, City were doing the same: fielding James Trafford ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma, for identical reasons. Trafford\u2019s early triple save from Kai Havertz was immense. But Kepa came in fairly cold, fluffed a simple catch, and Arsenal\u2019s trophy drought goes on<\/a>. The best part of six years have passed since they or Arteta won anything of note.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Reilly: Fan\u2019s fairytale<\/p>\n

The chances are that even without Kepa\u2019s mistake, a City victory was coming. Their performance at Wembley was the most Pep Guardiola-esque display they\u2019ve delivered in months<\/a>: territory and unabated passing, squeezing Arsenal to death.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Reilly \u2014 a City fan who grew up in their academy \u2014 scored two headers in the space of four minutes, to which Arsenal had no answer. Rayan Cherki showboated with keepie-uppies (above). Guardiola danced a little dance after the second goal, as happy as he\u2019s looked all season. From time to time, you\u2019ve found yourself doubting if City still had the old magic in them.<\/p>\n

For Arsenal, it\u2019s a case of lick wounds and go again<\/a>. The Premier League is there to be won, even if a quadruple of trophies is no longer possible (as TAFC says regularly, quadruples are not far off an impossibility anyway). The chances of City catching them are slim. But yesterday\u2019s defeat will make Arteta think.<\/p>\n

News round-up
\nIt\u2019s been on, it\u2019s been off, but Antoine Griezmann\u2019s proposed transfer from Atletico Madrid to Orlando City looks like it has the green light. After appearing in Atletico\u2019s La Liga defeat to Real Madrid<\/a> last night (more on that shortly), he\u2019s flying to the U.S. to wrap up the formalities<\/a>. He\u2019ll officially join in the summer.
\nManchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is taking legal action against world-renowned sailor Sir Ben Ainslie. They\u2019re in dispute over a boat<\/a> they built for the last America\u2019s Cup, purportedly worth \u00a3180m.
\nIn more positive United news, the club are close to agreeing new contracts<\/a> with Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo.
\nThe fallout from the Confederation of African Football\u2019s decision to strip Senegal of their Africa Cup of Nations title continues to mount. Senegal\u2019s World Cup shirts won\u2019t feature a star denoting the 2025 triumph<\/a>.
\nHere\u2019s some random, football-related beef: ex-Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Jorginho got into a war of words<\/a> with singer Chappell Roan over the weekend. Jorginho said Roan\u2019s security team left his daughter in tears. Roan has since apologised.
\nPreston North End midfielder Jordan Thompson received a three-match ban after he kicked a water bottle, which hit a fan,<\/a> during a Championship game at Norwich City.
\nToo big to go down? Tottenham sink closer to relegation with Tudor on edge\"\"<\/p>\n

Stuart James published a great piece last week<\/a> on what it\u2019s like when a big club crashes out of the Premier League. Eirik Bakke, the Norwegian who saw Leeds United\u2019s 2004 collapse from the inside, summed it up nicely: \u201cThe crowd goes against you because they\u2019re used to higher standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, a siege mentality is harder to build because the natives are starting from a point of anger. That\u2019s where Tottenham Hotspur are right now. The crowd tried their best yesterday<\/a>, massing in numbers outside the ground as Spurs\u2019 squad drove in for a critical home match against Nottingham Forest, but to no avail. A 3-0 defeat was utterly soul-destroying.<\/p>\n

By full-time, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was \u2014 to pinch Danny Taylor\u2019s phrase<\/a> \u2014 the Boo Bowl, and I just don\u2019t see where their next win is coming from. A family bereavement meant Igor Tudor missed the post-match press conference<\/a>, and Spurs will be mindful of handling him with due care. But one 90th-minute equaliser from Richarlison at Anfield is the sum of Tudor\u2019s impact, and it\u2019s hard to find an argument for Tottenham allowing the partnership to ride.<\/p>\n

Down at Chelsea, they\u2019re also starting to ask if Liam Rosenior\u2019s stint as head coach has legs<\/a>. His side took a tanking from Everton on Saturday and with seven Premier League games to go, they\u2019re staring down the barrel of abject failure. In the harsh light of day, the stress of these jobs will find you.
\nLate show: Trent dropped for tardiness, Vinicius goal sinks Atleti\"\"<\/p>\n

Trent Alexander-Arnold hasn\u2019t had a great week. After failing to make the latest England squad, he was dropped by Real Madrid yesterday<\/a>, having turned up late to training. Just in case anybody thought Madrid head coach Alvaro Arbeloa was letting the tail wag the dog.<\/p>\n

Arbeloa, little by little, is getting his feet under the table at the Bernabeu. Madrid are on a streak of five straight wins, and having held their nerve against Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday, they had the edge in a feisty derby<\/a> against Atletico last night.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t entirely plain sailing, and Federico Valverde \u2014 on a hot streak after yet another cool finish \u2014 brought a red card upon himself with a challenge on Alex Baena, a player he\u2019s had run-ins with in the past<\/a>. Goal of the evening, above, came from Atletico\u2019s Nahuel Molina before Vinicius Junior scored his second to make it 3-2.<\/p>\n

But Madrid have found their flow under Arbeloa, and he no longer resembles a glaring stop-gap in the tactical area. Is he merely a temporary caretaker for Madrid? Or might his reign actually be fruitful?<\/p>\n

Around TAFC
\nFive games in, and Major League Soccer has no perfect records left. LAFC and Nashville top their respective conferences, prompting Felipe Cardenas to compare<\/a> their respective strategies. They\u2019re going about 2026 in very different ways.
\nSeb Stafford-Bloor weighed in with a top column yesterday<\/a>: on whether, deep down, we appreciate the extreme talent of top footballers enough. And this is coming from a man who follows Tottenham.
\nThomas Tuchel picked enough players in his England squad to field three different line-ups. Brighton\u2019s Danny Welbeck didn\u2019t make it, though. After 13 goals this season and a brace against Liverpool on Saturday, Andy Naylor thinks he should have<\/a>.
\nQuiz question: name the six players who have played in more than 12 Premier League campaigns for Manchester United. You\u2019ll find the answers here<\/a>.
\nMost clicked in Friday\u2019s TAFC: the return of Adidas\u2019 trefoil logo for the World Cup<\/a>.
\nAnd finally\u2026\"\"<\/p>\n

Croatia\u2019s top division, SuperSport HNL, yielded my favourite goal of the season on Friday: Istra\u2019s Josip Radosevic scoring (and thereby inflicting a 2-1 defeat on Varazdin) courtesy of the wildest deflection off a divot in the pitch. I never fancied being a goalkeeper, and today\u2019s edition of TAFC explains why.<\/p>\n