Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal are more than just a cup team as they eye fifth final in five years

James Benge16 March 2018

Arsene Wenger insisted there was more to Arsenal than just a cup team as he mounted a staunch defence of his record in balancing league and knockout commitments in recent years.

Arsenal have reached four cup finals in the last five seasons under Wenger, winning the FA Cup on three occasions but losing last month’s EFL Cup Final 3-0 to Manchester City.

The Gunners are in contention to reach a fifth before the season is out after a 3-1 home win over AC Milan secured their passage to the Europa League quarter-finals in convincing fashion.

Asked by Standard Sport why Arsenal had been so successful in cup competitions in recent years Wenger bristled, saying: “Look, we made 75 points last year. We were one point short in the championship and it’s the first time in the history of the Premier League that you don’t qualify for the Champions League with 75 points.

“The year before we finished second in the Premier League. It’s true that this year we struggled but [due] to our away results, not our home results. I wouldn’t like to go too quickly to that kind of conclusion.

“We have done well, as well, in the cups. In the last five years we were in the cup final four times. That means that we have mental resources to turn up when it’s demanded.

“But it’s difficult. When you lose a cup final in the middle of the season it’s very difficult to recover from it no? There are many stats coming out at the moment, it would be interesting to see how well do teams do for the rest of the season when they play the League Cup Final.

In Pictures | Arsenal vs AC Milan | 15/03/2018

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“Southampton last year dropped dramatically and it cost [Claude] Puel his job. It happened many times. You had Birmingham when we lost in the final [in 2011].

“It is difficult after that to keep the focus of the players.

“I’m convinced that the team is strong and healthy. We recovered from that. Hopefully we can focus on something important now.

“The second thing I wanted to say is it’s difficult to do well in the championship and in the Europa League. There’s a statistic that has come out that shows that in all the championships the team who plays in the Europa League struggles. Everywhere in the big five leagues.”

It was not clear which statistic Wenger was referring to and it should be noted that a 2016 study by the CIES Football Observatory, a Swiss group of academics, claimed that participation in Uefa competitions did not have an impact on a club’s domestic success.

AFP/Getty Images

Ultimately Arsenal are now at the stage where their only hope of any major success this season comes in the Europa League, where they are now just four games away from their third European final in Wenger’s reign.

Though Arsenal are among the favourites to lift the trophy in Lyon the field is blessed with quality sides including Marseille, Sporting and Lazio.

There is one team, however, who all of the other seven sides in Friday’s draw will be desperate to avoid.

“Maybe the team who is biggest favourite is Atletico Madrid,” Wenger admitted. “Anyway what I like doesn’t matter too much because I have no influence on it. We have to wait for tomorrow and see who we get.

“If we get Atletico Madrid we get Atletico Madrid. We have some time to recover and prepare for it.”

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