MY FIRST TROPHY IS THE KEY, SAYS VAN GAAL
IT SAYS something for the way things have changed in English football that Arsene Wenger admitted only last week Arsenal have no chance of winning the Barclays Premier League. The same, of course, could be said of Manchester United. It is, we should remind ourselves, only the start of March. Given United’s enduring financial capacity, it should not be too long before the most successful club of the Premier League era are competing with Manchester City and Chelsea at the top of the table once more. As for Arsenal, it is more difficult to say. Arsene Wenger’s team have been a peripheral concern for quite a while now. Whatever the case, tonight at Old Trafford, these great modern rivals come together with something more at stake than a place in the last four of the FA Cup. With United not involved in Europe this season and Arsenal staring at likely Champions League expulsion in Monaco next week — they trail 3-1 after the last-16 home leg — victory tonight would at least keep one of them relevant from a domestic point of view. This may not be a cup final but it may feel a little bit like one. ‘United and Arsenal are placed third and fourth in the Premier League, so it’s almost like a final, I think,’ said United manager Louis van Gaal. ‘It is a big event with two good teams. I hope we can give a fantastic match for the fans. ‘I think if we beat them, it is a big blow for them but if they beat us, it is a big blow for us. It is a very important game, not only for the FA Cup but also for the rest of the season.’ Van Gaal was not hired last summer to win the FA Cup. He knows he must get United back into the Champions League. That said, the Dutchman has made no attempt to hide what it would mean to him — and his club — if United could win it. ‘You can say you play for your profession but that is not enough,’ said van Gaal. ‘You want to win something. That is why you play and coach. The players want to win something and also the manager and also the fans. ‘And when a player wins something, they then have the experience of winning a final, so there are a lot of positive things.’ Both he and Wenger know their true responsibilities are delivering Champions League football this season. Tonight, however, the expectation is that this should feel like the most important night of these teams’ seasons so far and the contest should benefit from that.