BBC- The Arsenal manager said it would have been “very unfair” if he had not stuck with the Spain international, who had played every round of the cup competition before the final, and said he accepts the scrutiny coming his way.
“I understand that, but I have to do what I feel is right, which is honest and which is fair,” Arteta said.
“And I think we have an understanding keeper in 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.”
The former Chelsea goalkeeper signed for the Gunners in the summer to compete with first choice Raya.
Raya has 15 clean sheets in the Premier League, the most in the division, and has produced some standout saves during this campaign as Arsenal look to end their wait for a trophy.
And Arteta says that despite Kepa’s limited game time this season he did not guarantee that the goalkeeper would play in Arsenal’s cup fixtures.
“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,” he said.
“We are guided by what we’ve seen and 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.”
The EFL Cup brings bad memories for Arrizabalaga. The keeper has now lost all three of the finals he has played in the competition.
When playing for Chelsea in 2019 he refused to be substituted with the game heading to penalties, in 2022 he put his penalty over the crossbar as they lost to Liverpool in a shootout – and his error in this year’s final handed the lead to City.
“I would never have started Kepa today,” European football expert Julien Laurens told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“In a final like this, at this moment in the Arsenal project, there is no moment for sentiment. Your best team has to play. Kepa instead of David Raya for me, was the wrong call.
