The former Gunner won the competition twice as a player and wants to bring silverware back to the Emirates this year
Mikel Arteta says he believes Arsenal winning the FA Cup this season could kickstart a winning mentality again at the club, saying he wants his players to become winning “addicts.”
The Spaniard won the competition in 2014 with the Gunners as a player, ending the club’s nine-year spell without silverware.
That success was followed by the Gunners winning the cup again the following year and then again in 2017, while the club also ended the 2015-16 season in second – their highest Premier League finish in the past 14 years.
With the situation at the Emirates once again looking bleak, Arteta is hoping an FA Cup triumph this season could usher in a new period of success for Arsenal.
“When I arrived here, obviously we were trying to fight for the Premier League but we did not really have the level of compete and sustain it every year,” he said.
“So the cups become very important and obviously this club has a massive history. But we’d had [nine] years without winning absolutely anything.
“For us, to lift that first FA Cup for this football club was like a massive relief that they tried to get this club again fighting to win some trophies and be there for everybody to see.
“It generated a really good belief and unity around our team and that helped that group of players to achieve what they achieved later when they won other cups.
“I think winning brings togetherness and, when you have beautiful experiences together and you win trophies, then those experiences stay within that group.
“You like more the people that you work with, you believe more in them, you share some fantastic moments and that habit of winning, winning, winning … after you win, you don’t want to stop winning.
“You become addicts to that and that’s what we have to try to implement at this football club.
Arsenal begin their 2019-20 FA Cup campaign against Leeds United on Monday night when the Championship club travel to the Emirates, before they play Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in Premier League action next weekend.
Be the first to comment