Arsene Wenger is looking forward to another trip to Wembley in February, Arsenal’s 10th visit in the last four years, after the Gunners beat Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

The Gunners overturned an early 1-0 deficit to win 2-1 in Wednesday’s semi-final. Wenger thinks the match was a tale of two halves, as he told Arsenal.com:

“Coming from behind, we were not really convincing in the first half, but I think in the second half we played really well. We won the ball high up, controlled well. We have a technical midfield, so it’s important that when we give them the ball, we do it well and we looked like we could win this game.

“Maybe there was a little bit of a lucky deflected goal, but we were in the box and that was absolutely marvellous. Overall I believe it is great to go to Wembley again with our fans, to bring them there and hopefully we can win the trophy.”

Sometimes fans theorise that Wenger doesn’t really care about the League Cup. In the entirety of his tenure, he only made the final twice, and never won the competition. This year, he’s taking it a bit more seriously. For example, Mesut Özil made his first ever start in the competition on Wednesday.

“Yes, I want to win it,” Wenger argued. “We are out of the FA Cup where we were always focused on, so we want to focus on this trophy now. Everybody always wants to win trophies and in England many teams can win. So it’s important that when you have an opportunity you can do it.

“It (the final) will be a difficult game certainly, but let’s prepare well for our next Premier League game. We want to get back in the top four and need to be consistent now.”

Morale booster

Now Arsenal can go back into those league games with a couple of big boosts. Firstly, beating Chelsea and winning a London derby is always a positive. They’re one of the big-six clubs, so it shows the Gunners can compete against anyone. Plus, the fans are happier having the bragging rights.

Secondly, the team have something to look forward to. Whatever happens in the next month, they’ll at least have a final at the end of it. Wenger emphasised the positive effect of making it to Wembley again – a 10th time in four years.

“It is a big lift, it is always a special day that you never forget,” he added. “I believe that’s important and I’m convinced that our fans will be happy to go there and they have been there a few times. It is a good habit.”

Hopefully Arsenal can win to keep the good feeling going. For now, it’s back to the transfer market, until Swansea City next Tuesday.