Every word Mikel Arteta said on Arsenal heartbreak, Kepa mistake, 'bad taste' and title race

Here is every word Mikel Arteta said during his post-match press conference after Arsenal were beaten

Mikel Arteta spoke to the media following Arsenal’s defeat at the hands of Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. Two goals from Nico O’Reilly made the difference on the afternoon, but the attention, no doubt, fell on Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Spaniard making the error which granted City their opening goal. Naturally, Arteta faced questions about whether, in hindsight, he should have started David Raya, but there was always the argument that Pep Guardiola had done the same and won.

The attention now turns to the potential impact of this result on the rest of their season. A nine point gap in the Premier League and still in the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League means that the Gunners have encouragement to go on, win, and not have this awful feeling again this season.

Here is every word the Arsenal manager said during his post-match press conference:

Can you summarise your feelings about the game?

Well, very sad, very hard one to take, especially for our players and our supporters because we know how much it means to them and how much we want it, and the fact that we haven't managed to deliver that obviously is disappointing and sad, and it leaves you with a really bad taste.

There's going to be a lot of focus on your choice of goalkeeper, what was your thinking and how do you see that performance?

I understand that but I have to do what I feel is right, which is honest and which is fair and I think we have understanding with Kepa, he's played all the competition and I think it would have been very, very unfair for him and for the team to do something different.

Man City seemed to push Haaland and Cherki quite high up and it prevented you from breaking out and getting the ball to Zubimendi in particular, what was the struggle with the Man City press and being unable to break through it so often?

It depends, there were different moments in the game. In the first half I think we had some really good moments and I think we're the better team, we had the biggest chance of the game by far that we should have been 1-0 up and that would have changed the course of the game. In the second half we had, especially in the first 18-20 minutes, some issues to get out from that block, to press them better and especially to manage the ball when we regained it much better than when we did and then we conceded a goal in a really unexpected manner obviously and three minutes later they scored another one in similar conditions to that. But sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition as well when they are so good in these periods, and they capitalise on that, and we had our periods, we didn't, and then we have to accept that.

You said it would be very unfair to change Kepa to come into this game? Had you said to him that the cup competitions were going to be where he would get his games from?

No, I can never promise a player to play certain competitions because at the end they have to earn it and they have to do enough like any other position to do that. We are guided by what we've seen and what he's done, what he's done in the competition, and he helped us to go all the way through here. I believe it's the right thing to do and that's it. Errors are part of football and today it happened unfortunately in a crucial moment.

How have you helped the players to process this? They’ve obviously got a lot of other things to aim for this season. Is this something that you want them to use this disappointment to fuel them for the things ahead?

Well, especially to have some perspective on it and what this team has done in the last eight months has been incredible, and we're going to use this disappointment and this fire in the belly to have the most amazing two months that we have ever had together.

That's on us and we'll manage that energy in the right way. Now we have to go through that pain and disappointment and it's normal and it's part of football.

Your team has rallied pretty well this season. Do you feel like you've learned something from this game that you can apply when you meet them again this season?

For sure and there will be a lot of aspects that we will discuss. I think we have to reflect on that, bring the temperature down a little bit and we will discuss that.

Aside from Kepa’s error, what more did you want to see from your team to go over the line today? What more did you want to see?

Especially in the second half it was 20-25 minutes that we should have done better. But again, sometimes you have to give credit to your opposition when they play at that level, they raise it and they capitalise on those moments. But for sure there are things that we can improve and do better.

You said you wanted to use this defeat as fire in the belly, but is there any danger at all that the season could spiral because it was such a disappointing defeat?

We played 50 games I think today. So every time you have a defeat or a draw, if that's the consequences, then you're not prepared to play 70 games because it's something that will happen at some point. So we haven't allowed that to happen, we have to prove it, we have to do it again. The good thing is that we have a very recent history, how this team has reacted in those moments and I'm sure that we're going to do it again.

Is there any idea how bad Eze's injury is? Do you expect him to go with England next week?

No. He’s out.

Do you know how long he's going to be out?

We have to do another scan in six or seven days and wait and see the results.

Is it a leg injury?

His calf.

I might be wrong, but it looked like you and the players stayed at the end a bit longer than normal to watch City lift the trophy and come down the stairs. Is watching that...

No, I think it's something to show respect and they won the cup and I think you have to wait for that moment when they lift it and once they've done that and they're going to have their own celebration, I think we need to get out of the door and I think that's what we did.

Can you use watching that as motivation?

I wouldn't say so today, to be fair, no.

Do you feel collectively today that you’ve not done yourself justice?

I don't think that's the case in the first half. In the first 20 minutes of the second half, we weren’t at our best, and the standards that we want, that's for sure.

There is always a lot of talk about the mentality of your team, which you've shown this season, you've shown time and time again, it's a strong team. Was there any part of today's performance that you put there to the mental and psychological side?

I wouldn't mean to the mentality part of that, especially when you lose or draw a game to go through that. I think it's too easy, that's my opinion.

It just seemed to be a very different second half performance, it looked like something was wrong. Do you think it was more tactical?

As I said before, in the first half, there were some very, very good moments and we didn't capitalise on them. In the second half, there were some moments that they had, and we had as well because we hit the post, we had a big chance as well for Gabi, another big chance through Viktor, and we didn't. You have to give credit to the opposition because they play as well and it's not a coincidence what they've done in that period.