Arsenal need to find answers after poor performance in Carabao Cup final loss

The expressions on the faces of the Arsenal players as they trudged up the Wembley stairs to collect their runners-up medals told the tale. An afternoon that promised so much for Mikel Arteta's side ended in depressingly familiar disappointment.

They have become painfully used to watching Manchester City celebrate at their expense. But this time was supposed to be different, an opportunity to launch a trophy-winning era of their own, and maybe even take a first step towards a quadruple.

Their season could still end in dizzying success, of course. They have a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League and favourable draws in the Champions League and FA Cup quarter-finals. "I want the players to have some perspective," said Mikel Arteta.

But the manner of this defeat, and the identity of the opponent, makes the setback all the more difficult to stomach. Arsenal have been the better team in the Premier League this term but they were made to look inferior in all departments in the second half.

Arteta's decision to persist with cup goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga over first-choice David Raya was made to look foolish.

The failure to claim Rayan Cherki's cross was a glaring error which allowed Manchester City to break the game open. "Unfortunately it happened in a crucial moment," conceded Arteta.

But the pattern of the second half had already been established at that point. After an even first period in which Arsenal had the better chances, denied by James Trafford's triple save, they were unable to deal with City's quality and intensity at the start of the second.

At their best, this Arsenal side are capable of suffocating their opponents, keeping them pinned in their own half and piling on pressure. But on this occasion they were the ones pinned; they were the ones who could not get up the pitch.

The opener came from an individual error. According to Opta it was Arsenal's seventh in their last 22 games, having only allowed one from 28 games before that. But this time it did not come from nowhere. City's grip on the game had been tightening.

Arsenal had stopped playing. They were not helped by the absence of Eberechi Eze, whose injury, along with that of Martin Odegaard, left them without two midfield technicians. But their inability to string passes together still looked jarring.

Unable to play through Manchester City's press, they repeatedly went long. The directness had unsettled City in the early stages of the game but the ball kept coming back after that. "We needed to manage the ball much better than when we did," said Arteta.

There is no doubting Arsenal's off-the-ball excellence but managing games with the ball has been a recurrent issue in the second half of the season. Against an opponent of the quality of Manchester City, even in their wounded state after their Champions League exit to Real Madrid, it is not sustainable to rely on your defence.

Arsenal struck the woodwork twice in the closing stages as they tried to find a route back into the game but Manchester City were largely comfortable after their opening goal, their superiority on the day suggesting they retain a psychological edge on the Gunners which may yet come into play in the title race.

Arteta dismissed that notion afterwards, instead putting the defeat down to the 20-minute spell during which the damage was done in the second half. But the manner of the defeat raises questions beyond the obvious one about Arteta's choice of goalkeeper.

Do Arsenal have a lingering mentality issue? Do they really have the attacking firepower to match their outstanding defence?

Many of those questions will be answered in the remaining months of the season. They have bigger targets this season than the Carabao Cup, of course. But they still need to pick themselves up off the floor to ensure their hard work does not go to waste.

"What this team has done in the last eight months is incredible," said Arteta. "We're going to use the disappointment and the fire in the belly to have the most amazing two months we've ever had together. Now we have to go through that pain and disappointment."

On the evidence of events at Wembley, there is work to do to prove they are ready to deliver the silverware their progress demands.