Carabao Cup
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Countdown To Wembley – The Ghost Of 2011

As we count down to the Carabao Cup Final, this question is natural: which club needs the win on Sunday more?

I do not think it is a case of how the winners benefit at Wembley, but how it could affect the losers.

Lessons from the Past

2011 was the last time the Gunners reached the final of this competition, where they were still contenders to also lift the other three trophies up for grabs.

Like Mikel Arteta now, Mr Wenger possessed a talented young squad who just needed to prove they could get over the line. The earlier they could do that, the easier it would be in the future.

By the time we kicked off against Birmingham, we were a point behind Man United in the title race, were still in the FA Cup and had just beaten Barcelona in the Champions League.

There is zero guarantee that, had we won that day, we would have gone on to be champions. Yet it was the day we lost the championship.

You can lose, but it is how you lose.

Every Gooner remembers the mix-up between Szczęsny and Koscielny, yet in truth, for 90 minutes, the Gunners had been crippled by a fear of failure.

Momentum, Confidence and Consequences

Twelve nights after, Barcelona dumped us out of Europe; four days later, we were knocked out of the FA Cup, while in the Prem we won one out of our next six!

I have never seen an Arsenal campaign implode so quickly. That young squad deserved a medal to show for their time together, but that failure set us back by years. Afterwards, certain individuals lost faith in the process and were not patient enough to wait for potential to develop.

In truth, I was burned that day 15 years ago, and scars remain. Never again would I get carried away or take any result for granted. It taught me how quickly momentum can change and how fragile confidence can be.

Get over the line this weekend, and the next time will be a little bit easier.

Dan Smith

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25 Comments

  1. I was in boarding school on that day and I was so happy and certain that we will win a lowly Birmingham side and grab our first trophy since the 2005 FA Cup trophy we last won back then.

    After the game I was mocked and laughed at by my classmates who were rival fans and I almost cried.

    Indeed it left a scar in me.

    Hopefully, we end up smiling on Sunday night.
    In as much as it is the least of the 4 trophies, I still want it, but if we don’t then let’s get up and focus seriously on winning the EPL.

  2. I was at that game—for better or worse. I’d almost buried it in the back of my mind until you brought it up again.

    I remember how confident we all were. It felt like we were going to roll over Birmingham. We had RVP, Nasri, Arshavin, Song… even with Fabregas, Walcott and Vermaelen out, the squad still looked strong enough to get the job done. But from the 90th minute onwards, the whole season just seemed to unravel.

    Looking at this current team compared to that one, even if—worst case—we were to lose, I don’t think we’d collapse in the same way we did in 2011. There’s a resilience and mentality in this squad that just wasn’t there back then. We used to get labelled as having a soft underbelly; that’s not something you can say about this group.

    That team probably played prettier football, with some incredible technical players. But thinking back, I’m not sure many of them had the grit that some of our current players show when it really matters.

    With a bit of luck—because you always need some in a one-off final—hopefully we come out on top.

    Onwards and upwards.

  3. Actually, our most recent EFL Cup final was the 2018 match against Manchester City, surpassing the 2011 appearance.

  4. I’m not sure we have drawn or loss back to back this season 🤔

    That shows the strong mentality of this team. Although losing a cup final will be a bigger psychological blow than losing a league game, but I believe they can still get up after a negative result and give us the 5 wins and 1 draw we need to win the EPL.

        1. yeah it was like
          draw with Liverpool, draw with Forest and then lose to Man United
          then recently it was draw with Brentford and draw with Wolves

          1. Yes, we have dropped points consecutively in the EPL, but in all competitions we have not drawn or loss back to back.

            The EPL is the most important competition we are in now, so hopefully they won’t repeat that again.

  5. I can’t wait till the weekend
    I want us to win silverware badly
    I hope this is the first one this season

  6. Although I want us to win as much as we can this season, for me although it is the one that would be prioritized last of the four
    the League Cup could be just the spur that the team needs.

    With some people saying that the League is done, for me should we slip up against City on Sunday it could give them a lift at a vital time.

    For me, if we win on Sunday then hopefully the momentum will grow. The big test as I see it is should City beat us, it’s how we react to the setback that could be the bigger question.

    Although it’s a question I hope we don’t have to answer.

      1. Reggie,

        I don’t know why I’m laughing😂🤣, but I’ll join in anyway. 😂👍

  7. The last time we made it to the league cup final was 2018 against City (3-nil) i think, not 2011. Got to say they owe us one there. COYG!

    1. you read it wrong mate or I have not wrote it very well
      I meant it’s the last time we got to this final when still having a chance to win the other 3 tournaments

  8. I hope we take on this City team. Remember they won’t have Guehi, so it’s Diaz and the shaky Khusanov Vs rejuvenated Gyokeres

    I hope Kepa and Norgaard are given a starting berth

  11. The article really got me scared, but the comments has deeply warm my faith 🔥💯
    Whether win or lose… Still the GUNNERS FOREVER 💯🙌

  12. I was there that awful day, shocking performance against a Brum side that ended that season relegated, unbelievable we managed to lose to that absolute shower, here’s hoping Sunday goes our way to make up for it.

  13. It is good to win any trophy but if it is at the expense of EPL then we would rather lose on Sunday! Our primary target is the EPL trophy. So if we have to rest some players on Sunday for the sake of EPL, so be it. We have to prioritise what is of paramount importance. It shouldn’t just be trophies for the fun of it! I agree with those who say we should reserve some of our players for the crucial EPL run-in. Sunday’s excitement is just a one day affair which we shouldn’t allow to derail our long term objective.

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