I just watched City get to that final, honestly? The Carabao one. They beat Newcastle pretty good in the end, 3-1 on the night. A 5-1 win all added up from the two games. They had Omar Marmoush scoring two so early, and Tijjani Reijnders got another. Anthony Elanga did get one back for them later, but it didn’t really matter much. Over in London, it was Arsenal who got through instead. Just a 1-0 win for them over Chelsea, Kai Havertz. That made it 4-2 altogether. So now it’s the top two teams in the league, City and Arsenal, playing at Wembley on March 22nd. But what’s really got people talking is Alan Pardew, the old manager, he picked a combined team from both sides. And would you believe it? He only put three City players in. Three!
I heard him on the radio talking about it. His whole team was basically just Arsenal with a tiny bit of City sprinkled. It really shows how people think about Arsenal’s defense now. In goal, he went with David Raya instead of City’s keeper, which is Gianluigi Donnarumma. Raya has all those clean sheets, twelve, so that’s his reason. The entire back four was Arsenal players. Every single one. Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori out wide, and Gabriel with Saliba in the middle. He said he “loves” Marc Guehi, who City just signed, but he didn’t pick him anyway.
The midfield was kinda the same story. He put Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi in there, which means he left out Rodri. You know, Rodri who won the Ballon d’Or? Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki weren’t in his thoughts either. The one City player he did put in there was Bernardo Silva, up higher. He picked him over Arsenal’s own captain, Martin Odegaard. He admitted that was a “tough call,” talking about Bernardo’s six league titles. But not finding a spot for Rodri at all? That feels like a real snub to me, just personally. He’s the one who controls everything.
The attack is where City finally showed up a little. Erling Haaland is the striker, which makes sense with his twenty goals. Jeremy Doku is on the left wing for him, even over that new guy City got in January, Antoine Semenyo. Pardew said that one was close. Then Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka is on the other side, which nobody is arguing about. So yeah, just Haaland, Doku, and Silva from City in this made-up team.
You look at this team and it’s really about how people see Arsenal now under Arteta. They have the best defense, Saliba and Gabriel are just a brick wall together. City, even though they score all the time and have won, what, six of the last eight leagues, people still think they can be got at in the back. That idea just sticks around.
These two teams have a proper rivalry now. City beat them to the title recently, a couple times. Right now though, Arsenal are the ones six points clear at the top. So this final at Wembley, it could set a tone for everything else. Arsenal could land a real early blow, or City could show everyone they’re still the ones for the big moment.
Pardew’s list is just his opinion, of course it is. But it gets everyone talking before the final. For City, maybe it gives them something to be annoyed about. For Arsenal, it’s like a nod that their team is truly built right. Anyway, they’ll figure it all out on the pitch at Wembley. All the tactics and which player does something brilliant, that’s what decides who gets the first trophy. One pundit having his say just added a little more spice to a game that was already pretty spicy to start with, if you ask me.
