Manchester City are the 2026 Carabao Cup winners. (Image: Getty)
Gone are the golden days of thrilling back-and-forth clashes between England’s best teams. Let’s take a look at the Carabao Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester City. This match only confirmed that soccer is becoming increasingly boring and the sport may never recover.
Both of these clubs are at the forefront of turning beautiful games into predictable, lifeless tactical battles. Arsenal and City in particular are guilty of taking the excitement out of must-see football.
Gary Neville described the first half as “interesting”, but it was a stretch. In fact, they only had seven shots on goal in the first half, the lowest number in a League Cup or FA Cup final since Chelsea vs. City in 2019. For a match of this size, it was overwhelming to say the least.
This result was no surprise to anyone who has been following English football this season. Pioneering set-piece dominance, Arsenal set the tone for how the Premier League is run today. Their tactical success has inspired a wave of imitators, with most teams adopting watered-down versions of the Gunners’ approach.
Josep Guardiola’s City were once renowned for their free attacking football, but now they are opting for a more measured and calculated game. After all, the last time Guardiola seriously challenged Arsenal, his City side were embarrassed by losing 5-1. This time they tiptoed their way to the final, with two quick goals from Nico O’Reilly ultimately clinching victory.
But let’s be clear: this was not a classic. How many truly thrilling matches have there been between top teams this season? The explosive rivalry between City and Liverpool that once thrilled fans now feels like a distant memory. Instead of brilliant individual qualities, we are left with a tactical contest where talent is sacrificed for structure.
Mikel Arteta and Josep Guardiola giving instructions pitchside. (Image: Getty)
Take Bukayo Saka for example. Once a free-spirited talent, he has now taken on a more rigid role, providing set pieces and strictly adhering to tactical instructions. It’s certainly effective. Arsenal are racing towards the title and had a serious chance of making a quadruple before today. But is that really what we want from a game?
Football is an entertainment business and at the moment it is failing to entertain.
Fans are leaving the Premier League in droves to seek thrills elsewhere. Why would Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal or Vinicius Junior want to play for England when they can be sacked for not running back or ridiculed for their lack of physicality? The beautiful game has lost its charm.
And here’s the scariest part. This won’t go away.
Set piece soccer is now mainstream and the game has changed with it. Despite four English teams being knocked out of the Champions League this week, the most efficient path to goals in the Premier League now lies in investing in set-piece specialists rather than £50m forwards.
The impact of analytics has revolutionized football, as well as baseball and later basketball. In these sports, data-driven approaches have forever changed the way the game is played. Now, soccer is next, but for many, the transformation is already complete.
