Arsenal: Carling Cup Defeat to Manchester City Further Vindicates Samir Nasri

Samir Nasri completed the commute to East Manchester from North London this summer, citing a desire to win trophies.  When Manchester City were drawn away to Arsenal in the Carling Cup quarterfinals, all eyes were naturally on the French midfielder.

Although the Carling Cup is arguably the fourth most important competition on both managers’ minds, with both teams making 10 full changes from the previous weekend’s Barclays Premier League action, a sellout crowd ensured the teams were under no illusions with regards to the desire of the fans. 

A cup win would be significant to both clubs, for vastly different reasons; Manchester City would gain the second trophy of the ADUG-funded era, as the club look to dominate domestically.  For Arsene Wenger, a trophy in the cabinet would relieve the pressure built from numerous years without domestic or European silverware.

Interestingly, the only player to survive the City rotation was Nasri, who marked his first return to the Emirates Stadium in opposition colours with a victory.

There is no denying that Arsenal put in an impressive showing on the night, and the future prospects of Emmanuel Frimpong, Francis Coquelin and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain look increasingly bright—but haven’t we been here before? 

The line that Arsenal have a young, evolving squad has been wrung out on countless occasions over the past number of years, promising future glory—which has yet to arrive.

At kickoff, Arsenal’s average age across the team stood at 24.27, rising to 25.81 by full time as they chased an equaliser. 

City’s average, by contrast, stood at 25.54, although that fell to 25.27 after Sergio Aguero was introduced in the 32nd minute for Aleksandar Kolarov.  Abdul Razak took the place of tiring Owen Hargreaves in the 79th minute, meaning that by full time, City’s average had decreased to 24.18—surprisingly lower than Arsenal’s starting figure.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger uses the League Cup each season as a competition in which to blood youngsters for first team action (interestingly enough for a manager often accused of tight purse-strings, Arsenal’s youngest player versus City, Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain, was signed for £12 million, rising to £15 million) with relative success in regards to the cup itself.  Only a horrendous defensive mix-up in the closing stages of the 2010/11 final versus Birmingham sent the gunners home empty-handed. 

The fact remains that Arsenal have not won a trophy since the 2004/5 FA Cup, a barren spell for a club of Arsenal’s stature.  Nasri’s desire to improve his personal collection of winner’s medals took a step closer to completion on Tuesday night, as City now face Liverpool in a two-legged semifinal, with Championship sides Crystal Palace or Cardiff City awaiting the victor at Wembley.

Chants of "Who are you?" from the Emirates faithful were responded to by a rendition of "We are top of the league" by the Manchester City fans, whose team currently sit 12 points clear of Arsenal in the Premier League, with a goal difference 28 superior to that of their London rivals.

Plenty of time—and competitions—remains for Arsenal to demonstrate trophy-winning capabilities, but for now, it looks increasingly difficult for any doubts to remain as to the true intentions of Samir Nasri’s transfer.