Two BBC headlines followed Arsenal’s exit to Newcastle which highlighted how vast the expectation gap is between the two.
If Newcastle win the League Cup, their players will become legends. Meanwhile, had Arsenal progressed to the final, the headline “Arteta’s Asenal can assume legendary status forever” would not have been written.
Winning the League Cup and finishing 2nd would not be considered a hugely successful for The Arsenal. Meanwhile for Newcastle it will be open top bus rides, calls for knighthood, and players going doing in history as legends.
Howe has been at Newcastle for 4 years. In that time he has won nothing and spent £500m. He is on the verge of becoming a club legend. Meanwhile Arteta has been at Arsenal 5-years. Win the FA Cup. And spent just £30million more than Howe since the Englishman joined the Saudi regime. The media (and some fans) write about Arteta as if he is a man under pressure.
And it is the same with Tottenham.
If Spurs win tonight, and go on to lift the trophy, Ange “I always win something in my second season” will be an instant Spurs legend. the same would not be said for Arteta were we 14th in the table.
All thus highlights is that Arsenal are, rightly, held to a higher level of expectation than lesser rivals.
It has often been written that Tottenham’s ceiling is our floor. And the expectation level of both clubs proves this.
For clubs like Arsenal, winning just the League Cup is not something to overly celebrate. It is our 5th most important target of the season (Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Top 4, League Cup). With Newcastle and Tottenham, winning the League Cup will be their teams greatest achievement of the decade.
You can also throw Aston Villa into the mix. Another club whose fans act like they are big boys, but have not win in decades.
And this is why it is laughable when Newcastle, Tottenham or Aston Villa fans try and talk their club up as if they are on the same level as Arsenal. If they were on our level, then they would have the same level of expectation.
All 3 sides would roll out the red carpet in their slums to celebrate winning the League Cup. Meanwhile for Arsenal, winning the League Cup would be yesterday’s news the day after and we would be rolling up our socks for the next battle.
What really sums this up is our 5-year trophy drought is talked about as if it is the same as Newcastle’s (56 years), Aston Villa (29 years) and Tottenham (17 years).
And when in our doldrums in that 8-year trophy drought under Arsene Wenger, no one went into the 2011 League Cup final talking about how winning the trophy would make our players legends, or justify poor league positions under Wenger.
Newcastle deserve to be in the final. Good luck to them. And their fans might finally get to celebrate something in over half a century. But they need to stop pretending they are a big club. If they were, they would be held to the same level of expectation as Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.
Keenos