What does an EFL Cup really mean for Mikel Arteta? The Arsenal manager is the latest to find himself in a difficult situation that many elite managers have faced over the past 20 years. This competition tends to attract them towards the extreme poles when it comes to building the starting XI.
On one side is the approach defined by José Mourinho and latterly Pep Guardiola. The first piece of silverware of the season makes players eager to win the biggest prizes in the following months. It’s a sign that their team is winning and will fight for every trophy available. At the other extreme is the way Mauricio Pochettino approached the EFL Cup when he was in charge of Tottenham, somewhere between indifference and disdain. His tenure would not be defined by lower prize money but by bringing Spurs into the mix for the Premier League and Champions League.
For now, it’s unclear how Arteta viewed the EFL Cup, at least this season. He deployed every fringe player and kid he could to take on Bolton and Preston – supplemented by necessity by William Saliba – but of course he did. Even the fiercest trophy chasers know that lower league opposition means it’s time to sob their Ethan Nwaneris and see if their Gabriel Jesus can put goals in the bank.
There is a reasonably compelling case for maintaining this approach when Crystal Palace travel to the Emirates on Wednesday. Oliver Glasner’s side, who have recently returned to something resembling their form from the end of last season, would be a tougher test, but Arsenal have to think about their next Premier League rematch and the busy schedule that will ‘wait. This would be an inopportune time for yet another serious injury in a season wasted by them.
On the other hand, it’s easy to understand why he’s so keen on his team “touching” certain trophies. After all, he might have led Arsenal to the 2020 FA Cup, but few from that team are still around to regale the dressing room with inspiration. Indeed, the only man to take the field at Wembley in the win over Chelsea (where Bukayo Saka was an unused substitute) was Kieran Tierney, the full-back who is so low on the depth chart that he cannot get minutes even when Arteta has a press conference. hinting that he will get just that.
Arteta himself doesn’t want EFL Cup medals. As Guardiola’s assistant, he won two with Manchester City. Both times, more trophies would follow, a Premier League title in 2018 and the remainder of a domestic treble 12 months later. “It keeps everyone on their toes,” he said. “Everyone is ready to play these matches, these competitions and if you are able to win them, it gives momentum, confidence and we are ready and the team is always committed, every three days to try to achieve the greatest.”
The EFL Cup itself would of course be of great value to Arsenal. After all, a fan who had seen the rise, rise and rise of Arsène Wenger, the decade of tumult that followed, the on- and off-field tumult of Unai Emery’s interregnum and the next Half a decade of Arteta’s tenure would not have seen this trophy lifted once. It matters. What matters most is what this competition could mean for those who Really count.
Park the Premier League for a moment. It still seems a little premature to dismiss a team with that defensive record – just 8.65 xG allowed in 13 games where they didn’t receive a red card – from an almighty run of results, although that would require Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz to come back to life and Liverpool opens a path for the pursuing pack. Even though the biggest domestic prize has finally become out of reach in recent months, there is still the Champions League to consider.
There’s no reason why Arsenal can’t win this. They have the defense, and yes, they would need the “magic” that Mikel Arteta has noted is lacking more than once in 2024, but only Real Madrid tend to trade more in the latter than the former and to sink into Europe. Arteta has everything he needs to win the Champions League, apart from a convincingly negotiated knockout match. That and a team that knows what it feels like to lift trophies and can’t wait to do it again.
As Arteta says, the EFL Cup “brings belief, confidence, positive energy. Touching a cup, beating someone in the semi-final, beating someone in the final, it generates that energy and I think that creates the right path to go and do something.” Otherwise, especially because of the timing and when the competition is played in this country, it gives momentum.”
Achieving this the hard way – there’s a good chance Arsenal will have to go through two of Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham after Palace – would add certainty to the energy. It may not be the A-grade silverware that changes the way an era is judged. Indeed, if at the end of Arteta’s reign there is only one EFL Cup to show for it, that would be little consolation for the resurrection he has achieved in north London. However, the Gunners boss knows better than anyone what an early season trophy can bring in the months that follow.
