It promises to be a thrilling occasion at Emirates Stadium tonight as we host Newcastle United in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
Since taking charge of our team just over five years ago, Mikel Arteta has lifted the FA Cup once and the Community Shield twice. Now, he’s more hungry than anyone to earn another trophy for the cabinet.
“Well it’s the icing on the cake,” he said, reflecting on previous trophy wins. “Obviously we work every single day to achieve that, to enjoy it with our people, and there’s not a single moment that stands out more than actually when you have that cup and you’re offering the cup to your supporters, sharing it with the people that you work every day with.
“They are memories that stick in your mind and hopefully we can create many more.
“We know as well the level of opposition, but as a club we have to expect to win every year, that’s for sure.”
Asked how much domestic trophies mean to him, Mikel said that you only have to look at the line-ups managers settle on for these matches to see how much competitions like the Carabao Cup mean to everyone involved.
“They mean [so much] to all of us,” he said. “You see how a lot of clubs prepare and decide line-ups. A lot of talk around the cups and how it is right now is very different because to win any trophy in this environment, especially in this country is extremely difficult. I always go as strong as I can!”
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
