Countdown to Wembley – Who needs it more?

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·20 de marzo de 2026

Countdown to Wembley – Who needs it more?

With Arsenal competing on four fronts, it is easy to forget that the Gunners are a game away from ending a six-year trophy drought.

Mikel Arteta won the FA Cup in his first ever season as a manager, but that was during COVID, meaning our manager is yet to have the experience of lifting a cup in front of thousands of Gooners. While some suggest the Spaniard has one eye on the Premiership, we are not good enough to be taking any chance of silverware for granted.

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Experience vs Expectation

His mentor Pep Guardiola is at the other end of the scale. In his 17 years as a coach, the 55-year-old has only experienced two seasons where he did not win a trophy. Four of those trophies are the League Cup, two of which his opponent on Sunday was his assistant.

In other words, Mr Guardiola is not used to the feeling of being left empty-handed in a campaign. As a player and now a boss, he is a born winner whose attention to detail is obsessive. He will not just be approaching this weekend as a one-off game but as a potential route back into the title race. If Man City win their game in hand and beat us at the Etihad, the gap between second and the league leaders would be just three points. That is what he will be telling his squad in training this week: break hearts at Wembley, and who knows how their opponents react?

Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola (Getty Images)

Momentum, Pressure and Legacy

The one advantage he has always had over his apprentice is a dressing room that knows how to get over the line.

That is what is fascinating about sport: how small details can change momentum.

A record fifth League Cup for Pep Guardiola puts potential doubts into a genuine friend’s head, with questions asked if he goes seven years without winning something in North London.

Alternatively, with his contract expiring next summer, there are whispers in Manchester about whether Pep has the appetite to keep doing this. That talk grows louder if he returns from Wembley this week without a winner’s medal.

Who said the League Cup does not matter?

Dan Smith

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