Ahead of their Carabao Cup quarterfinal match against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes winning the competition will help transform the team and build confidence as they seek to achieve greater heights.
Arsenal have won only one one FA cup and two community shields in the Spaniard’s five years in charge of the club. They have twice come close to winning the English Premier League but have fallen behind to eventual winners Manchester City for two consecutive seasons.
“It is really helpful, it brings belief, trust, positive energy”, Arteta said when asked about what winning the tournament would mean to him.
“Touching the cup, and being in the semifinal and beating somebody in the final, it is that energy and it creates the right path to go and do something else, particularly because of the timing and when the competition is played in this country. It gets that momentum going.”
Arsenal have not won the Carabao cup since 1993 and Arteta believes winning the competition at the end of the season is crucial as they hope to achieve greater success.
“I fully believe in that, the fact that you are winning and you get into the next round and it creates something different around the team and that is why these kind of games are so important”, he continued.
The Gunners have had an underwhelming start to the season and are currently third in the English Premier League standings, meaning the League cup provides an avenue to put an end to their major trophy drought.
The 42-year old is expected to field a very strong squad on Wednesday night when they host the Eagles at the Emirates stadium.
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