Eddie Howe has reached extra finals than Mikel Arteta – Arsenal boss cannot deal with strain

Eddie Howe has now reached more cup finals as a manager than Mikel Arteta.

And while he has still to win one of them, the statistic is as damning of Arteta as it is something for Howe to be proud of. Arteta won the FA Cup in his first season in charge of Arsenal.

But that was almost half a decade ago now, back in 2020, and will feel like a fading memory to his club’s supporters. Some of which made the 600-mile round trip to St James’ Park this week on a cold night in the north east, to watch Arsenal crash out of the Carabao Cup semi finals with little more than a whimper.

In the space of less than a month, Arsenal have been knocked out of both domestic cup competitions. And the pressure for Arteta to deliver some silverware is mounting fast.

Arteta will point to the fact his team are still locked in a title race with Liverpool, and have cruised into the Champions League knockout stages. But considering Arsenal haven’t been crowned English champions for more than two decades, and have never won the European Cup, it’s difficult to see how Arteta is capable of going on to bring one of these waits to an end. Let alone both.

The Spaniard found himself out-thought by Howe on Wednesday night. Howe frustrated his rivals with a back five, which proved a challenge Arsenal couldn’t overcome.

And just to rub Arteta’s nose in it, Newcastle demolished the defence at the opposite end with pace and intelligence on the break. With an attack led by the sort of striker Arsenal miss so badly, in the shape of Alexander Isak.

Isak terrorised William Saliba and Gabriel from start to finish with some classical No.9 play. He had one thumping goal disallowed for a marginal off-side, then played a huge role in the opener for Jacob Murphy.

Arteta could have done worse than go find the Swedish sensation at the final whistle, to ask him how much he would want paying to join Arsenal this summer.

In the meantime, Arteta will have to muddle through, attempting to win the two biggest club trophies of all without a recognised goalscorer. This should be Kai Havertz, but the German couldn’t finish his own supper, let alone chances in the opposition box.

Failing to sign someone in last month’s window has left Arteta’s team limping through games with the pain of a damaging Achilles heel.

Howe, meanwhile, has the sort of spring in his step that comes with being on the cusp of iconic status on Tyneside. He has got his players dancing to his Toon, and should Newcastle go on to win the final, his name will be etched into the folklore of a club and city which hasn’t seen silverware since 1969.

Because of this, there is no less pressure on Howe to deliver than there is on Arteta. But the difference right now appears to be that Howe is handling it – and Arteta isn’t.