It’s not easy being a cup side now…
said Zinchenko. “When I don’t play, or when I am on the bench, I still listen intently to him at half-time.
“It’s amazing how he finds the right things to say at the right time. He sees things that no one else sees.”
If Guardiola’s analysis is right on the spot and City lift the Carabao Cup, Zinchenko just might find himself in demand from fans wanting an autograph or selfie – just like his more famous “twin”. MANCHESTER CITY will be fired up after their shock FA Cup exit and the Carabao Cup odds obviously favour them to lift the first silverware of the Pep Guardiola era.
City are 8-13 to win in 90 minutes or 4-11 to win either in 90 minutes, extra-time or penalties. Sergio Aguero to score in each half is worth a punt at 9-1. Arsenal have a decent record in recent
years at Wembley and are 2-1 to win. IT USED to be a term of utter disdain thrown at “the other lot” during the Arsene Wenger glory years. But yesterday, as the Frenchman extolled the virtues of his recent Wembley record, realisation dawned. Arsenal are now “a cup side”. Tottenham’s cup successes of the Eighties and early Nineties were very quickly put into their place by their north London rivals when Arsenal ended an 18-year wait for the title in 1989.
Now it seems the League Cup and FA Cup carry so much more weight for the Gunners that they can be lumped together and celebrated as a very real achievement.
“They are very difficult to win,” said Wenger. “The simple fact is that nobody has won the FA Cup more than us. Look at the big clubs. For example, Liverpool is a big club – how many times have they won the FA Cup in their whole history? Seven. It shows that throughout history it is not easy to win.”
Cue the clamour from Merseyside about five European Cups and 18 league titles added to the fact Liverpool, with eight, hold the record for the most wins in the competition actually up for grabs here.
This is the trophy that Wenger has not won – only Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Kenny Dalglish, Joe Mercer, George Graham, Bill Nicholson and Don Revie have won all three major domestic honours, and it is a surprise not to see Wenger’s name among them.
The closest he came was when Birmingham beat Arsenal in the 2011 final – incredibly, the last time he lost a cup game at the new Wembley.
And his run of nine wins out of nine in various semi-finals, finals and Community Shields since then is enough to buoy his spirits after a disappointing defeat against Ostersunds in the Europa League on Thursday, although Arsenal still won the tie on aggregate. “What a run like that means is that you have enough belief to think you can do it, that on the day you managed to turn up with the right spirit and right mentality, the right belief,” said Wenger. “In the final, everyone says you have to be motivated but you must also find the right balance between focus and motivation, and be relaxed enough to play your game. That will be the target again: to have a belief but as well to find that right balance. The pressure is always immense, last year particularly so.
“When you come out of a semifinal beating City, then you go in a final and play Chelsea, who had an opportunity to complete the Double, it is absolutely difficult.
“But as well, when you have come such a long way, when you get to the final you don’t want to lose it. You want to win. At the end of the day, you have to be cool. Because Manchester City are dominating the league, in the heads of everybody we are more underdogs than we were in that semi-final.
“But we still have to believe in our quality. The history, the fact we have done it before, shows why not do it again?”
Unfortunately, in the next breath, he all but answers his own question. “The modern game has changed with the recruitment of the best players going to a small number of clubs,” he said.
“We as managers can maybe impart our philosophy but this game belongs to the players because the importance of the players has become bigger than ever before.”
It comes down to players. And the reason that Arsenal have not been title challengers, and are having to make do with a “cup side” tag, is that since their Invincible season of 2003-04, their players have simply not been good enough. Except perhaps on the day. v
Lazio Dynamo Kiev RB Leipzig Zenit St Petersburg Atletico Madrid Lokomotiv Moscow CSKA Moscow Lyon Marseille Athletic Bilbao Sporting Lisbon Viktoria Plzen Borussia Dortmund Red Bull Salzburg AC Milan Arsenal
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v First leg March 8 (6pm) Second leg March 15 (8pm)