Arsenal FC: Arsene Wenger Must Take FA Cup Seriously

Arsenal begin their assault on the FA Cup this evening and the Gunners must take the competition seriously this season.

Arsene Wenger's comments in the Daily Mirror, suggesting that participation in Europe is more important, reveal a dismissive, almost arrogant attitude to arguably the most famous cup competition in the world.

To treat the FA Cup as nothing more than a luxury might be acceptable for a team that has collected multiple trophies in recent seasons, but for a club that was last awarded meaningful silverware in 2005, Arsenal's attitude to the FA Cup has to change.

Wenger ought to be making this season's Cup as much a priority as anything else for Arsenal in 2012. The team needs to capture the first trophy since the move to Emirates Stadium.

This is not a call to simply dangle a bauble to appease the restless masses. Arsenal have often been viewed as club in transition since they moved from Highbury.

Fans have been assured that a fledgling team is on the verge of greatness, but patience is required before eventually seeing the benefit of such methodical team building.

Any developing team needs a springboard to help launch it to its greater successes. Capturing a first trophy is a crucial part of the process.

There have been many examples in recent football history. Jose Mourinho's Chelsea began plundering England's domestic honours by collecting the 2005 Carling Cup.

Sir Alex Ferguson's most recent dominant Manchester United team first got the trophy bug by winning the same competition a year later.

Wenger's decision to treat the FA Cup as barely something more than a nice little bonus also supposes that Arsenal are strong enough to win one of the two elite competitions that the Gunners boss values more highly.

But the Premier League is already out of sight. It is also increasingly difficult to seriously entertain ideas of this Arsenal team conquering all before them in the Champions League.

Anything can happen in cup tournaments and Arsenal have acquitted themselves well in Europe. But if the road to the trophy is destined to go through either Madrid or Barcelona, Arsenal simply don't have enough firepower.

Declaring fourth place as the primary objective at this stage cheapens an FA Cup legacy that epitomised Wenger's glory days at Arsenal. The Frenchman's team's dominated the competition at the start of the last decade and feared no possible draw.

Attempting to limp through with a skeleton squad and minimal effort will defame Arsenal's last trophy win and rob this team of the chance to come of age.