Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes players would be ‘very, very arrogant’ if they were to undervalue the Carabao Cup.
Arsenal travel to east London on Wednesday night to face West Ham United in the Fourth Round, in turn a first return for Declan Rice to his old stomping ground. The likelihood of Rice starting against his former club appears unlikely as Mikel Arteta looks to rest players ahead of a big test against Newcastle United on Saturday.
The opportunity to rest key players in these League Cup matches are much sought after by Premier League managers, with European competitions and league campaigns taking first priority. This is despite the possibility of a trip to Wembley Stadium and the opportunity to win some silverware.
The Gunners were knocked out by Brighton in this competition last season, leading to an adverse reaction from Gunners supporters with Arsenal in the midst of a title race. The Spaniard believes matches in the League Cup are of similar importance to any match his side will play this campaign, and convincing the supporters of this will be difficult.
“I don’t know if we can convince them,” Arteta said. “If you ask about what the priority would be, it wouldn’t be the Carabao Cup for sure. For us it’s more internally how we use it.
“The amount of work we put in ourselves and how we approach every single game playing for Arsenal football club. You cannot approach it in any different way because that’s not respecting the game.”
Arsenal are one team to have used their victory over Brentford in the previous round to rest players, with fringe players Jakub Kiwior and Reiss Nelson coming into the side alongside Hale End academy graduate Charles Sagoe Jr who made his first team debut.
However, the 41-year-old reiterated the desire of his players as well, after concerns about the lack of ‘big name’ players being used in certain ties against smaller teams.
“I don’t think the players think like that. I think they get really upset when they lose. After you are out you try to look at the bigger picture and say ‘Ok, now we’re going to use it in a different way.’
“But if you ask someone what they want to do tomorrow, for sure they want to win the game.
“I don’t think I have three World Cup winners in the squad that can think like this about the Carabao Cup. I might be wrong, but I don’t think anyone can think like that. I think that would be very, very arrogant.”
