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  "path": "/2026/04/05/micah-richards-slams-mikel-arteta-decision-arsenals-fa-cup-exit-27861051/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-05T09:52:05.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "Football",
    "Sport",
    "Arsenal",
    "David Raya",
    "FA Cup",
    "Kepa Arrizabalaga",
    "Micah Richards",
    "Mikel Arteta",
    "Premier League",
    "Southampton FC",
    "Manchester City",
    "Carabao Cup",
    "knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship side Southampton",
    "thumping Liverpool 4-0 to storm into the FA Cup semi-finals",
    "Sign up here",
    "made a howler in the Carabao Cup final",
    "BBC One",
    "supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo",
    "@metrosportuk",
    "mancity",
    "carabaocup",
    "premierleague",
    "mikelarteta",
    "♬ original sound – Metro Sport",
    "two-legged Champions League quarter-final against Portuguese giants Sporting on Tuesday night",
    "check our sport page",
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  "textContent": "Micah Richards has taken aim at Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta (Picture: Getty)\n\nMicah Richards has issued a Premier League title warning to Arsenal after their FA Cup defeat to Southampton and criticised Mikel Arteta for not playing David Raya.\n\nAn Arsenal side who had outside chances of winning a historic quadruple just two weeks ago have now fallen short in two competitions.\n\nThe Gunners lost 2-0 to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final before the international break before being knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship side Southampton.\n\nArsenal’s first back-to-back defeats of the season means the club’s only hopes of winning a trophy this season lie in the Premier League and Champions League.\n\nMikel Arteta’s side boast a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League but Manchester City have a game in hand and a home match against Arsenal to try and close the gap.\n\nMan City stumbled twice before the international break, dropping points against Nottingham Forest and West Ham, but beat Arsenal in a Wembley final before thumping Liverpool 4-0 to storm into the FA Cup semi-finals.\n\nRichards now expects Pep Guardiola’s team to push Arsenal ‘all the way’ in the title race and insists the Gunners’ recent slump will be concerning for Arteta.\n\n##  Get your football fix\n\n**Metro** 's weekly newsletter In The Mixer delivers punchy analysis and breakdowns of the biggest football stories directly to your inbox.\n\nSign up here, it's an open goal.\n\nMikel Arteta after Arsenal’s defeat to Southampton (Picture: Getty)\n\nBut the ex-England defender believes Arteta could have made life easier for himself by picking first-choice goalkeeper Raya ahead of back-up Kepa Arrizabalaga.\n\nRichards admitted Arrizabalaga, who made a howler in the Carabao Cup final, was not at fault for either of Southampton’s goals at St Mary’s but was still baffled by Arteta’s decision not to ‘play his best team’ with a trophy on the line.\n\n‘There is going to be so much noise around them now,’ Richards said on BBC One after Arsenal’s FA Cup exit.\n\nKepa Arrizabalaga during Arsenal’s FA Cup exit (Picture: Getty)\n\n‘With Arsenal against Man City you can get beat in a final. Tonight you asked me if I would play [David] Raya. I don’t think it was anything to do with him in terms of them losing, but you have to play your best team.\n\n‘It was only a couple of weeks ago people were saying Arsenal could do the quadruple, now they are in two competitions.\n\n‘Man City, after what they did earlier on [beating Liverpool 4-0], they look like they are going to push them all the way for the league and the Champions League – anyone can win that.\n\nTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo\n\nUp Next\n\nPrevious Page\n\nNext Page\n\n‘The most disappointing thing for me was watching them and their attitude.\n\n‘They have been excellent defensively, in transitions they have been very good, the shape has been good and the effort has been as good as anyone.\n\n‘For them to turn up the way they did today, I thought was very poor.’\n\n> @metrosportuk\n>\n> Is there a chance Arsenal walk away with NOTHING? 😟 Following their 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester City, questions are being asked about the Gunners, and whether they have the stomach to win the Premier League, FA Cup, or Champions League this season, because their performance in the final was way below par. #arsenal #mancity #carabaocup #premierleague #mikelarteta\n>\n> ♬ original sound – Metro Sport\n\nArteta admitted he was ‘very disappointed’ after Arsenal’s FA Cup exit and criticised both his side’s defending and efforts in the final third.\n\n‘We’re very disappointed in the manner that we lost the opportunity to get back to Wembley,’ the Gunners boss said.\n\n‘I think we again had many, many periods of dominance from our side when we generated chances and situations – we didn’t capitalise on that enough.\n\n‘And then when you defend in and around the box and directly in the manner that we did today, you’re going to put yourself in a really difficult position.\n\n‘They did capitalise on that, and that’s the reason why they are through and we are out.’\n\nArsenal have little time to wallow as they start a two-legged Champions League quarter-final against Portuguese giants Sporting on Tuesday night.\n\nArteta’s side resume their Premier League campaign with a home match against Bournemouth at the weekend.\n\n**For more stories like this, check our sport page**.\n\n**Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on**Facebook,** Twitter and Instagram**.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Micah Richards slams Mikel Arteta decision after Arsenal’s FA Cup exit"
}