Arsenal have not won a major trophy since 2020, but can an EFL Cup win kickstart a run of trophies for the Gunners?
There's no denying the good work Mikel Arteta has done at Arsenal since being named manager with the Gunners going from mid-table embarrassments to challenging for the Premier League the last two seasons.
But while Arteta has done great things for the club, the absence of a "big" trophy is starting to become a concern for Gunners fans.
Having not won a major trophy since the 2020 FA Cup triumph, sorry, Mikel, those Community Shield don't count; now the Gunners are in a position to have a real crack at the EFL Cup.
Not generally a competition the Gunners have done well in, as it's often used to blood a handful of youngsters, but now into the Quarterfinals against Crystal Palace, with Tottenham facing Manchester United and Liverpool away to Southampton, Arsenal has a good chance to make it into the next round against favorable position and from there, who knows.
Having not won a big trophy for years, can an EFL Cup triumph kickstart a trophy-laden era for the Gunners?
"I think it’s really helpful," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "Again, I think it brings belief, trust, positive energy; touching a cup, beating someone in the semi-final, beating someone in the final, it generates that energy and I think it creates that right path to go and do something else, especially because of the timing and when the competition is played in this country, it gets the momentum going."
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FBL-ENG-FACUP-ARSENAL-CHELSEA | CATHERINE IVILL/GettyImages
There is merit to that thought.
All the Gunners have to do is get that "first one," and in theory, it could lead to more. But the FA Cup win in 2020 could have been seen in the same light, right?
But with Arsenal getting so close in the league for the last two seasons, maybe it just needs some reward for its superb efforts over the last 24 months. Of course, the football gods might think otherwise and might schedule an Anfield Semi-Final against Liverpool.
It has been a while since the Gunners hoisted a meaningful trophy, and maybe the EFL Cup, while not as glamorous as the others, could be the firestarter in this group under Arteta finally getting more trophies into the cabinet.
Of course, that's predicated on Arsenal winning the EFL Cup this year, and to do that, it must first get past Crystal Palace.