sortiwa
“Mikel Arteta, it must be the ball.” With hindsight, the Arsenal manager would probably not have criticised the equipment used in the Carabao Cup after his side’s chastening defeat in the first leg of their semi-final against Newcastle at the Emirates last month. But after another traumatic 2-0 loss to Eddie Howe’s side – Arsenal’s third blank in a row at St James’ Park – during which home supporters gleefully teased Arteta about his comments, it was surely not his only regret.
Three times since the Spaniard won the FA Cup seven months after succeeding Unai Emery in 2019, Arsenal have reached a semi-final and failed to progress. On the previous occasion they reached this stage of the Carabao Cup, three seasons ago, they were also beaten 2-0 in the home leg, by Liverpool. It is a trophy they have not won since Steve Morrow’s decisive goal against Sheffield Wednesday in the 1993 final, after which the Northern Ireland midfielder was dropped by Tony Adams and broke an arm.
Arsenal have lifted the FA Cup on a record 14 occasions and their two League Cup triumphs are a meagre return when compared with the rest of the big six – even Tottenham have four. Arteta’s decision to target the competition this season stemmed from his desire to end their wait for a trophy after finishing as runners-up to Manchester City in the Premier League two years in a row.
“It brings belief, trust, positive energy, touching the cup, and being in the semi-final and beating somebody in the final,” he said before their quarter-final against Crystal Palace in December. “It is that energy and it creates the right path to go and do something else, particularly because of the timing and when the competition is played in this country. It gets that momentum going.”
That was why William Saliba and Martin Ødegaard were introduced at half-time with Arsenal trailing to a goal from Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta before Bukayo Saka came off the bench with 20 minutes to play to set up Gabriel Jesus for the decisive goal. The full ramifications of that decision were not felt until a few days later when Saka pulled up with a hamstring injury in the 24th minute of Arsenal’s Premier League game at Selhurst Park. The England forward is not expected back for several weeks despite travelling with the squad on Thursday for their warm-weather training camp in Dubai.
The first-leg defeat by Newcastle was one of nine games Arsenal played in January, when they lost Jesus to an anterior cruciate ligament injury but failed to bring in reinforcements in the transfer window. After Arteta admitted disappointment at the failure to strengthen and stressed that Arsenal’s dwindling list of attacking players must “make sure that they stay fit and they keep contributing”, it was another cruel twist to see Gabriel Martinelli clutching a hamstring before half-time against Newcastle on Wednesday and being swiftly substituted. Arteta said the Brazil forward would have a scan and is is clearly expecting the worst.
As Arsenal check in to the same base in the United Arab Emirates that served them so well last season, he will be keen to move on and refocus his players on the mammoth task ahead. Having arrived in Dubai 13 months ago on a run of one win from seven games, they won their next eight matches and scored 33 goals. But Arteta knows he has his work cut out to produce the same results given his attacking options are down to the bare bones. The exciting 15-year-old Max Dowman, who in September became the youngest player to score in the Uefa Youth League, has been given special dispensation to travel with the squad.
“There are a lot of things that will be similar,” he said before the Newcastle game of the visit to Dubai. “The location, where we train, but of course we will have to modify it. We are going at a different moment of the season, different numbers, probably the team needs a different stimulus, so we are preparing a few things and hopefully it will work like it has the last few times.”
after newsletter promotion
The trip was made possible by Arsenal’s elimination from the FA Cup in the third round against Manchester United and their progress straight to the last 16 of the Champions League. Between a trip to Leicester next Saturday and the first leg of their last-16 tie in the first week of March, Arteta’s side will face only West Ham at home on 22 February and a potentially crucial game against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground four days later. That could give his weary players an opportunity to recharge after playing two games a week for most of the campaign.
Even a finale to match last season’s may not be enough given how relentless Liverpool are proving, and everyone at Arsenal is no doubt aware that only one club has finished second in three consecutive Premier League seasons. That was the fate of Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal, although he followed that by winning the Double in 2002 after Sir Alex Ferguson’s United matched Arsenal’s achievement from the 1930s of being crowned champions three times in a row. Arteta will be hoping he does not face as long a wait.
Source link