Arsenal vs Portsmouth: Never, ever neglect the FA Cup

Arsenal has two big things on their mind, but there should always be room to add a third—the FA Cup. The side trophy that still means a lot.

There was a time, when Champions League qualification was taken for granted and the Premier League title was always just out of reach, that Arsenal thrived on FA Cups. These days coincided with the debt days caused by the Emirates.

Although correctly labeled a “side” competition, it’s still always been a point of pride, as any trophy should be. Anytime you start talking knockout rounds, things get serious. Same goes with the League Cup, though the FA Cup is a notch above that for the history of the competition alone.

This year, given how tumultuous the season has been and how the club churned through three managers in less than half a season, the name of the game has been keeping our head above water. Staying afloat.

That hasn’t been easy. But now that we’ve put down a firm foundation, it’s full speed ahead for that elusive top-four finish since the Europa League has ended in futility.

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However, also buried in the hectic season is the FA Cup, where we are now entering into the fifth round. With Portsmouth up next, the Gunners should have full faith that they can slip on to the next round, but in the meantime, the competition as a whole should always maintain a level of priority not that far behind the others.

If nothing else, being able to take home a trophy—especially one that Arsene Wenger put such stock in, as well as the one that Arsenal have won the most of—would have to rank the season as at least a partial success, no matter where we end up in Europe, if at all, next year.

Perhaps that’s crazy, but we have to look big picture. Mikel Arteta hasn’t even been here for a full year. He’s trying to right the ship and get us back into the Champions League in very little time and if that primary task doesn’t pan out, I will still celebrate the season based on optimism of the future alone.

Give me an FA Cup trophy in there as well and we should be over the moon. Of course, there’s still a long way to go and we can’t prioritize the FA Cup over Premier League or Europa League, but don’t lose track of it either.