Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been warned that he may have made an error by not taking the Carabao Cup more seriously as his side were knocked out by Brighton in midweek.
The Gunners gave the perfect response, winning 2-0 away to Wolves last night to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League table, taking advantage of a surprise Manchester City defeat against Brentford earlier in the day.
Speaking after the Wolves game, Sky Sports pundit and former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink made it clear that he felt Arsenal should have tried to stay in the League Cup, as it may have given Arteta more negotiating power with the board ahead of January…
Jamie Redknapp argued that Arsenal don’t have the squad to try competing for so many competitions, but Hasselbaink said that by being in more competitions, Arteta may have been able to make it clearer to the board that he’d need more signings to deal with the extra fixtures.
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Time will tell if Arsenal got that one wrong, but for now their fans will just be thrilled that the team seems to be in a genuinely strong position in this season’s title race – better than anyone could have expected.
The north London giants haven’t won the title since all the way back in 2003/04, and haven’t even been regulars in the top four in the last few years.