It’s the petty child inside that screams ‘well, I never wanted it anyway’ when faced with rejection. If such a petty child were an Arsenal fan, he might be screaming the same thing right now.
As Arsene Wenger’s weakened side succumbed to an FA Cup third round defeat for the first time in the manager’s long reign at the club, and against a struggling, managerless Championship side to boot, it’s hard to see too many bright points.
With the Premier League’s top six far consolidating their power as English football becomes about the 1% versus the rest, trophies will be at a premium for the next few seasons. With the Premier League title all but heading to Manchester, the others have to fight over the League Cup and the FA Cup as something of an inadequate alternative. European glory would sate the hunger, but that’s an even riskier bet. For Arsenal, they don’t even find themselves at the top table on the continent, but could well find themselves under severe pressure to land the second-tier trophy just to return to the top one next season.
Already five points behind Liverpool who are currently in fourth, the Gunners aren’t in an enviable position. But with the club having stagnated over the last few years – and with frustration only getting worse year after year – you have to wonder just what difference it makes if Arsenal are out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle.
Winning the competition three years out of four doesn’t appear to have granted Arsene Wenger much good felicity in the last few seasons. Victory at Wembley last season, as with the two other triumphs in recent times, has essentially been seen as a salvage operation on an otherwise disappointing season. If Tottenham or Liverpool were to win the FA Cup this year, for example, it might be seen as a step in the right direction. For Arsenal, it would be taken as yet more evidence that the club is stagnating, suffering the same failures – and the same tedious successes – year after year.
That’s unfair to the FA Cup, and probably even demeaning to the competition that Arsene Wenger’s side lifted only just six months ago. But it’s clear that if three in four didn’t scratch the itch that Arsenal have had since last winning the league in 2004, then even four in five is unlikely to do it, either.
Instead, Wenger is in a similar position to one in which Jose Mourinho found himself last season.
Still alive in the EFL Cup, the Gunners have the chance to win a trophy to give their floundering season a timely kick-start in February with another Wembley victory. That won’t be easy: Chelsea are the opponents in Wednesday night’s semi-final first leg, whilst the all-conquering Manchester City will likely lie in wait for the final.
If they were to win that, the Europa League would also present the opportunity not just to win another trophy, but also to gain entry to next season’s Champions League. Mourinho’s United finished sixth last season, which is where Wenger’s Gunners currently sit. Indeed, win the League Cup and Europa League and Wenger could even instruct his celebrating players to give three-fingered salutes to the TV cameras proclaiming their Community Shield victory as the first leg in an historic treble.
There are fundamental differences between where Manchester United were this time last season and where Arsenal were, though. Mourinho had just taken over his Red Devils’ side, who were beginning to improve under his management. They were also much further into the Europa League as a competition before sacking off the league in order to win it. And in the EFL Cup, they faced Hull City in the semi-final before Southampton in the final.
But there are also similarities. Arsenal are a club who shouldn’t be scrambling for a backdoor into the Champions League, just as United shouldn’t be either. And these days there is a very fine line between a season we consider a success and one we think of as a failure. Had United lost the final of the Europa League, come sixth, and won only the EFL Cup, that would have been seen as a failure. It all came down to Europe, and the Champions League qualification.
Perhaps that’s what makes the FA Cup, the League, and even the League Cup (though winning it would surely be an achievement) secondary to the Europa League for the Gunners this season. Because where they are at the moment – already five points off a Champions League spot – means only winning in Europe looks likely to see Arsenal back in the Champions League again next season.
Defeat in the FA Cup means no change whatsoever for Arsenal’s success or failure this season. Just as the last four years have all been seen as failures despite winning the competition three times. This year, success will be measured by other competitions – and in two of them, Wenger’s side are still alive.
