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Mikel Arteta issues new Arsenal trophy vow and hits back over set-piece 'narrative'

Mikel Arteta issues new Arsenal trophy vow and hits back over set-piece 'narrative'

Mikel Arteta believes winning the Carabao Cup could lay the foundations for Arsenal to claim more silverware in the future.

The Gunners have won the FA Cup and two Community Shields during Arteta’s time in charge, which will hit five years come Friday.

Arteta spoke of his desire to win more trophies when he signed a new contract in September and is targeting this season’s Carabao Cup.

Arsenal have reached the quarter-finals of the competition and will host London rivals Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.

“It is really helpful, it brings belief, trust, positive energy, touching the cup, and being in the semi-final and beating somebody in the final,” said Arteta.

“It is that energy and it creates the right path to go and do something else, particularly because of the timing and when the competition is played in this country, it gets that momentum going.

“I fully believe in that, the fact that you are winning and you get into the next round and it creates something different around the team and that is why these kind of games are so important.

Eyes on the prize: Mikel Arteta wants to quickly add to his trophy collection at Arsenal (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Eyes on the prize: Mikel Arteta wants to quickly add to his trophy collection at Arsenal (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“It keeps everyone on their toes and everyone is willing to play those games and those competitions and if you can win it is momentum and belief and you are ready. The team is engaged every three days so to try to achieve that for the bigger ones.”

Arsenal head into Wednesday’s game with Palace in the wake of a frustrating draw at home to Everton.

It was the third Premier League game in a row that Arsenal have failed to score from open play, with many feeling that they are reliant on set-pieces.

“That’s always the narrative,” said Arteta. “When you score five goals and another five and three, you’re not going to talk about it.

“If you concede, it’s: ‘You don’t have many clean sheets’. That’s normal. That’s the narrative. For us it doesn’t change.

“We want to improve regardless of if we score three or five. Even though we didn’t score on Saturday, we want to do better defensively.

“The frustrating part is watching it (the Everton game) back and seeing all the things that the team has done without getting a reward.

“Looking back at all the games in the league, our margins are 10 times bigger than many other teams that won that day. This is football.

“At the end what we have to do is put the ball in the net and then we don’t have that issue. With the way the team dominates the game, there’s very little to say.”