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We go into this League Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace already having to feel more than a bit tetchy about our chances of winning silverware. Yes, it’s too early to concede that we’re now a third horse in a two-horse race for the Prem; yes, we still are very much alive in pursuit of the FA Cup and Champions League. Despite all of that pie-eyed optimism, however, one was to wonder whether we’ll come away from this season, once full of such promise, empty-handed yet again.
When pressed about his five-year record managing Arsenal during which he won the FA Cup in his first season, Arteta pointed out that he’d won three trophies: “We won the Charity Shield twice, no? So we’ve won three trophies.” As we go into Wednesday’s League Cup quarter-final, that starts to feel like Arteta believes that winning this bit of silverware would quiet most if not all of his critics. He might have a point. Maybe.
After all, getting past Palace won’t be easy. For one, Glasner will almost certainly name a full-strength squad. He has to know that this is his one best chance at silverware. What’s more, Glasner’s side have shown a knack for creditable results. having lost at home 0-1 to Liverpool, won at home 1-0 to Tottenham, won 1-2 away to Villa, and drawn at home 2-2 with Man City. They’re no mugs, and Glasner has them playing well. Yes, they may sit 15th in the Prem overall, but they’re eighth on recent form (last six matches). We’d do well then to quell any ambitions of winning this competition until we’re past Palace.
Let’s get jinxy and pretend for a moment that we do manage to find a way past Palace. Ahead of us lays a potentially favourable string of possibilities. Newcastle host Brentford, Southampton host Liverpool, and Tottenham face Man U. A lot might hinge on how highly various managers, namely Howe, Frank, Slot, Postecoglou, and Amiron, rate this competition. That’s a rating that’s likely to. change pending results from Wednesday and Thursday, In other words, what might have felt like a throw-away competition on Wednesday morning could start to feel like a very real chance at some kind of validation or vindication by bedtime Thursday night.
We can’t quite call ourselves favourites to win this, not with Liverpool, Tottenham, and Man U still in it. Before you scoff at second and third sides listed there, keep in mind that Postecoglu and Amiron will face serious pressure to show that they can lead their clubs to silverware, even if it’s “only” the League Cup. One will knock the other one out, of course, but the survivor may then pin all of their hopes to winning this competition.
And now we come full-circle. If we’re seriously about silverware, winning the League Cup on 16 March might vault us towards winning silverware elsewhere. Would winning the League Cup and FA Cup be enough to assuage Arteta’s critics? Maybe…depending on who we’d beaten to claim those cups. If we win the League by besting Palace and then, say, Southampton, and Brentford, it will be easier for critics and naysayers to wave it off. If, by contrast, we defeat Palace, Liverpool, and either Tottenham or Man U, it might be easier for us to say that this would stand as legitimate silverware even if not quite on a level with the FA Cup.
As for the bigger fish we hope to fry? Let’s tuck in to the meal that’s set in front of us first. Our own recent performances have suggested that, aside from those corner kicks, opponents have figured us out. Glasner surely have studied how Fulham and Everton frustrated us and will look to score on counters or force the match into penalties (there’s no extra time until the semifinal) in order to nick a win.
We’ll have to be better than we’ve been of late, not just for this match and this competition but for the rest of the season as a whole. I hope then that Arteta names the right mix of players in order to move us closer to winning this cup even if it’s not merely as lofty as our ambitions.