The stand-out tie of the FA Cup third round sees Arsenal and Liverpool meet in a clash of the heavyweights. It’s a game the Gunners simply must win, to a) get their season back on track and b) keep alive their best hope of a first trophy since 2020.
Having moved five points clear (with a game more played) after their late, late win at Luton Town on December 5, Mikel Arteta’s side have seriously stumbled since, collecting just four points from their last five league games.
A loss and draw at Villa Park and Anfield respectively were not the end of the world but the defeats at home to West Ham and away to Fulham that followed leave Arsenal lying in fourth place, five points off the summit and just a point clear of their injury-riddled north London rivals Spurs.
Another loss on Sunday at the Emirates would increase the panic and the volume of the alarm bells, particularly with Liverpool entering the clash without Mohamed Salah and possibly with more than one eye on their midweek League Cup semi-final first leg with Fulham.
Arsenal, on the other hand, have no excuse not to have full focus on the tie and go full strength, with their next game not until January 20 due to the Premier League’s faux-winter break.
At the start of the season, there was undoubtedly a lessened attention on the domestic cup competitions with another title tilt and a first crack at the Champions League in six years the priorities, as they are for any of the top, top sides.
But given the position in which Arteta and his side currently find themselves, any idea of putting all their eggs into these baskets and discarding the FA Cup as a tertiary trophy needs to be scrapped.
Big clubs should also always try and win everything, as seen with Manchester City and Liverpool in recent years. There are clubs that need to take it more seriously than others, but all absolutely should.
For Arsenal, winning just one trophy this season needs to be the minimum requirement, whatever competition it might come in. And success in the cup feels far more attainable than in the league or Europe.
While a trophy is not always proof of progress or of a club on the rise, as evident with Manchester United’s downturn since their Carabao Cup triumph, the first is often an important signpost during an era of prominence.
While Arteta did win the 2020 FA Cup final, that feels a lifetime ago, and not just because it was nearly four years ago and in the early months of a two-year pandemic. It was an entirely different Arsenal team to the one he has now. Literally.
None of the starting XI from that 2-1 win over Frank Lampard’s Chelsea (first stint, again, how long ago does that feel?), are at the club anymore. Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson – all substitutes on the day – are the only members of the match-day squad who are still Gunners; Kieran Tierney is out on loan at Real Sociedad.
Four years is a long time without a trophy for a manager of a big club, and while the obvious positive changes made by the Spaniard are commendable, he could really do with marking this ‘new era’ with a trophy. It also can’t be forgotten that he has spent over £580m since arriving in late 2019.
A large portion of that money was spent on Declan Rice, who undoubtedly made the move across London with a view to picking up trophies on a yearly basis. Winning a trophy with Arsenal is something that almost the entire squad has yet to do (outside of the three subs from the 2020 final). Martin Odegaard’s captaincy would benefit from lifting silverware, while it could spur William Saliba onto even greater heights.
It is rare for a great side’s first trophy to be one of the Premier League or Champions League, with Liverpool 2018/19 a notable exception in recent times.
Jose Mourinho’s first Chelsea side won the League Cup on the way to his first title in 2004/05, the Ronaldo-Rooney United team of 2006-09 started off with a win in the same competition a year later.
Manchester City’s reign of terror kicked off with an FA Cup triumph in 2011 – they won their first Abu Dhabi-era title the following season, albeit their success comes with 115 asterisks, if not more.
On the flip side, Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs side did not win a single trophy, and like Kevin Keegan’s mid-1990s Newcastle, are looked back at with some nostalgic fondness by other fans – never a great sign.
As for their own fans, there is a massive sense of regret that opportunities were not taken – Spurs were hamstrung by Daniel Levy and their new stadium costs but have now not won a trophy in 16 years, while Newcastle’s barren stretch is closing in on 70 years.
Arsenal are a bigger club than both and should have an expectation and demand of a trophy on a near-annual basis, as should their fans.
Add in the fact that no side has won the FA Cup more (14) and it feels like an opportunity Arteta, his players and the club as a whole should not let slide. It starts this Sunday against a familiar foe.
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