{"id":2207,"date":"2026-03-24T00:45:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T00:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=2207"},"modified":"2026-03-24T00:45:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T00:45:30","slug":"rio-ferdinand-says-arsenal-star-is-the-best-in-the-world-after-man-city-defeat-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=2207","title":{"rendered":"Rio Ferdinand says Arsenal star is the &#8216;best in the world&#8217; after Man City defeat | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script 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{}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"646\" height=\"387\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02.png?w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27626112\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Rio Ferdinand analysing the Carabao Cup final (Picture: YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rio Ferdinand says Arsenal missed the \u2018best goalkeeper in the world\u2019 David Raya during their Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal No. 1 Raya was benched at Wembley on Sunday as Mikel Arteta continued to put his faith in cup goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.<\/p>\n<p>The decision backfired, however, with Arrizabalaga making a poor mistake to gift Manchester City an opening goal in the 2-0 defeat.<\/p>\n<p>Arteta defended his team selection after the game and insisted he did not regret picking Arrizabalaga ahead of Raya, who has been brilliant since joining Arsenal from Brentford.<\/p>\n<p>But Ferdinand has criticised Arteta\u2019s \u2018sentimental\u2019 decision and says Raya \u2013 who he rates as the \u2018best goalkeeper in the world\u2019 \u2013 could have swung the Carabao Cup final in Arsenal\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We can talk about Kepa\u2019s mistake but those can happen in any game,\u2019 Manchester United and England legend Ferdinand said on his podcast.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018But more than anything he was the big issue in terms of Arsenal getting through the press.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tYour football fix\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<p><strong>Metro<\/strong>&#8216;s Head of Sport James Goldman delivers punchy analysis, transfer talk and his take on the week&#8217;s biggest stories direct to your inbox every week.<\/p>\n<p>Sign up here, it&#8217;s an open goal.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2267841268.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27626659\" alt=\"Arsenal v Manchester City - Carabao Cup Final\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Arsenal goalkeepers David Raya and Kepa Arrizabalaga (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018I think right now David Raya\u00a0is the best goalkeeper in world football and if he plays, his distribution\u00a0would have been a big,\u00a0big factor\u00a0in that game.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He would have played over Man City\u2019s press, he would have played through at times, he would have taken risks and would have been able to put an element of doubt into City\u2019s press.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Giving an opposition that kind of mindset makes them less convinced sometimes and gives them less conviction when\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0trying to carry out Pep\u2019s tactical approach.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2268011099.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27626669\" alt=\"Arsenal v Manchester City - Carabao Cup Final\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Manchester City celebrating their Carabao Cup win (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018Arsenal\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0deal with that bit of pressure one bit.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Discussing Arteta\u2019s decision to start Arrizabalaga, Ferdinand added: \u2018I think Mikel Arteta will look back and think he was too sentimental.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I know\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0played in the\u00a0previous\u00a0rounds\u00a0but I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0agree with it.\u00a0Man\u00a0City could afford to because\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0won enough trophies recently but Arsenal\u00a0are\u00a0trying to build a winning culture.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-tiktok wp-block-embed-tiktok\"\/>\n<p>\u2018This was a big moment, the first trophy on offer in the season and\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0let it slip through his fingers.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The mistake was bad\u00a0but tactically it was obvious to see that David Raya would have been a mark-up because of his ability with his feet.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We can talk about how good Raya is at shot-stopping and claiming crosses but his bravery on the ball has been sensational this year and that would have altered Man City\u2019s tactics.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Arsenal have been a confident back-four and Raya makes it a confident back-five. The frailties at the back given Kepa\u2019s mistake and his inability to play out was glaring to see.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Reacting to Arrizabalaga\u2019s Wembley mistake and defending his decision after the defeat, Arteta said: \u2018I made a decision before the game based on what he has done all season, the fact he has played in the competition and helped us be where we are today.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It would have been very unfair to choose a different one. I have to do what I feel is right, honest and fair.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I believe it\u2019s the right thing to do and that\u2019s it. Errors are part of football and today it happened unfortunately in a crucial moment.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on <meta charset=\"utf-8\"\/><br \/>\n<strong>Facebook,\u00a0<\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Metro_Sport\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Rio Ferdinand urges Manchester United to sign four players in summer transfer window<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: John Terry makes bold Premier League title claim after Man City beat Arsenal in Carabao Cup final<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Chelsea-bound? Wayne Rooney tells \u00a327m star to leave Man City after Arsenal win<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\">\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card accent--sport\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card__inner\">\n<h4>Football Newsletter \u2013 In The Mixer<\/h4>\n<p>Punchy analysis, transfer talk and more from Metro&#8217;s football experts, sent straight to your inbox every week.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:258px; background:#ff6b6b; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114307\" data-width=\"908\" data-height=\"258\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114307});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u7b2c\u4e8c\u901a\u680f\uff1a728\u00d790 \u901a\u680f -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:90px; background:#4ecdc4; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114300\" data-width=\"728\" data-height=\"90\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114300});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u4e3b\u680f\uff1a\u591a\u5e7f\u544a\u5806\u53e0 -->\r\n  <div style=\"display:grid; 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background:#ff9ecd; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114305\" data-width=\"250\" data-height=\"250\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114305});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:139px; background:#c792ea; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114302\" data-width=\"133\" data-height=\"139\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114302});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:125px; background:#91e7ac; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> Rio Ferdinand says Arsenal star is the &#8216;best in the world&#8217; after Man City defeat | Football<br \/>\n<br \/>#Rio #Ferdinand #Arsenal #star #world #Man #City #defeat #Football<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rio Ferdinand analysing the Carabao Cup final (Picture: YouTube) Rio Ferdinand says Arsenal missed the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[617,618,316,794,317,230,793,654,328],"class_list":["post-2207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-arsenal","tag-city","tag-defeat","tag-ferdinand","tag-football","tag-man","tag-rio","tag-star","tag-world"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362.png",1200,630,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362-300x158.png",300,158,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362-768x403.png",640,336,true],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362-1024x538.png",640,336,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362.png",1200,630,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362.png",1200,630,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362-1115x630.png",1115,630,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362-800x500.png",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362-1024x538.png",1024,538,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362-540x340.png",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rio-ferdinand-ad02_1774292362-400x250.png",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=6\" rel=\"category\">Sports<\/a>","tag_info":"Sports","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}