Manchester City: Thrilled to be wrong about Caballero

By Stephen Little | Feb 29, 2016

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 28: Willy Caballero of Manchester City celebrates victory with his team mates after the penalty shoot out during the Capital One Cup Final between Liverpool and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on February 28, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images) /

Manchester City won the Capital One Cup yesterday thanks to heroics from number 2 keeper Willy Caballero. All his detractors should now be silent.

Let’s get the obvious statement out of the way to begin with – I was wrong. Wonderfully, blissfully, wrong. Yesterday I penned an article, and isn’t this just stereotypical of life, in which I made the ill-advised decision to target, of all players, Willy Caballero as a potential weak link in the Manchester City lineup. 24 hours and one Capital One Cup later, I’m back to eat humble pie. Delicious humble pie mind you, spiced with those sweet yet ever-so-salty scouse tears shed last night, as they found themselves unable to break the man who is City’s number 2 goalkeeper.

You see, contrary to how you and I might have once imagined, Liverpool rode the crest of a jam wave all the way to 120 minutes and penalties. Aguero hitting the woodwork, Simon Mignolet making jaw dropping reflex saves, Raheem Sterling missing sitters left and right (that one may not be so shocking), a stonewall penalty turned down because reasons. The game had it all. For a neutral observer it was a spectacle, for a Citizen it was a living nightmare.

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So it was, Liverpool made it to penalties, this was very much their territory. Manchester City hadn’t been pushed to a shootout in 7 years, an ominous length of time that few, excluding the likes of Vincent Kompany, on the squad would remember. Meanwhile Liverpool had already been in two this season alone and won them both comfortably.

The signs didn’t look too promising. Already I was sure that, due to missed opportunities and poor luck, Manchester City looked destined to come away empty handed. To make matters worse, following Liverpool putting away the first penalty, up steps Fernandinho and misses the mark entirely. Oh dear.

But the script was not written nor the result sealed, instead of Joe Hart there was Willy Caballero playing in arguably the biggest game of his career. Manuel Pellegrini stuck to his guns, Caballero would be starting all cup games, and many, including myself, questioned his judgement. No more questions here sir, Willy answered them all and how!

Caballero would go to save the next three, count them three, Liverpool spot kicks in a row. Neither falling for a dummy stop, nor letting himself be intimidated by the pressure of the moment, Willy took the final and made it his own. See, few will remember all that had happened up until that point, though it was certainly a memorable match. All, however, will remember Caballero’s heroics in bringing the cup back to Manchester.

Speaking after the game, an emotional (and weren’t we all?) Caballero said the following to Sky Sports:

"“It’s amazing, to win this cup for me it’s amazing. It was a hard week for me but we had a talk that we could do it. It is fantastic for the blue people.It’s important, emotional for me, my family, to be in this great team. It is a first trophy for me and for my family in Argentina.I tried to see all the penalties last night, but my intuition got me through.”"

In the end, it was Liverpool’s experience with penalty shootouts, including this year, that contributed to their undoing. Caballero was able to study their penalty takers on video before the game and prepare himself for that eventuality. Meanwhile, as we mentioned earlier, Manchester City’s stars haven’t had the same opportunity to show off their abilities from the spot. Doubtless this gave City the edge after normal play had finished.

Despite all that, it was still Caballero pulling off three unlikely, yet stunning saves in a row that won the trophy for the sky blues. Aguero, Jesus Navas and Yaya Toure all took their penalties well and decisively, but had Willy not stood up to the test, overcoming the negative stigma, then it wouldn’t have mattered much in the end.

So here I am today, thrilled to see Kompany hoist another trophy aloft in front of the City faithful, thrilled to watch all the lads celebrate the victory they richly deserved, thrilled to see our fortunes turning around at a pivotal point in the season. Most of all though, I’m thrilled to be wrong. Willy Caballero with his own two hands proved me wrong and I couldn’t be happier.

Next: Manchester City win the Capital One Cup

Now, who wants me to write an article about how we are going to lose the next game?