The good weather brought in a flood of “I’m not very well” calls today, which was fine by me because I would have missed the FA Cup on TV otherwise. Until Arsenal scored that third goal, I would have happily rather have spent a whole week teaching problem pupils than go through that.
Being an Arsenal fan this season has been very painful. We’re easily good enough to win the title, the Champions League, and any other competition there is out there. But we didn’t. Again.
What people forget is that we still did well in those other competitions. We were top of the table for longer than anyone else this season, but a disastrous couple of months earlier this year killed off our challenge. Arguably, injuries to Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey were the deciders, but I don’t like thinking of us as relying on individuals – the rest of the team is good, too. It’s just bloody inconsistent.
It was nice to hear Aaron Ramsey say:
…the manager has always believed in us. This [is] for Arsene – and we now know he’ll put pen to paper.
Let’s hope that some of the Arsenal supporters out there also start thinking the same way – because I’ll tell you now, one of the biggest obstacles Arsenal have had to deal with over the last few seasons (and one that will screw things up in future seasons if it keeps going) is the loud mouthed anti-Wenger brigade demanding that he be sacked. When Wenger eventually leaves, we’ll be screwed for a long time.
Arsene Wenger didn’t choose to sell the likes of Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, or any of the others who were greedily following the scent of money (well, maybe not Fabregas, but all the others to be sure). He had no choice in the matter. Can you imagine the effect it would have on a player – and those around him – if he were forced to see out his contract when he had made every effort to leave? At any club? Arsene has never bowed to that sort of pressure, and hopefully he never will.
I think I’ve mentioned before that in an interview last year – shortly before they bought Mesut Özil – Ivan Gazidis (CEO) implied that Arsenal had been following a strict financial path following the move to the Emirates, which had come to an end and money was now available for players. In spite of targeting several other players, none were available – and there’s not much you can do about that.
Even now, after today’s win, there are those people out there trying to stab Wenger in the back. The simple truth is that some of the poor performances Arsenal have put in have been down to the players and not the manager. Someone who can play as if they were at the top of the world some weeks, and then have a run of absolute stinkers, is at fault – not their manager. IN fact, credit has to go to the manager – as Aaron Ramsey has clearly articulated – for sticking with them. And that has always been one of Wenger’s strengths. Mark my words: when Arsene leaves, Arsenal will have the turmoil that other clubs have who change managers. The Club is never going to be as free with its money as Chelsea or Manchester City (unless a loopy billionaire buys them) – it can’t be, because it doesn’t have it in the same quantities. What it DOES have is Arsene Wenger’s astute management. Without that, we’d be nowhere.
These anti-Wengerites seem to think that every time a player puts in a bad show, or if he becomes disliked by the fans, you simply dump him in a skip and buy a better one. They’re idiots.
Anyway, Arsenal didn’t put on a classic display by any means, though they came close for large parts of the match after the first 25 minutes (and especially towards the end and in extra time). They came away with 65% possession and over 30 shots at goal (which certainly didn’t look likely after 10 minutes when they were already 2-0 down). All three goals were impressive one way or the other (that back heel for the second through the defender’s legs was deliberate).
Anyway, a huge relief in the end. Well done Arsene and the Team – you all deserve it.
(And well done Hull City for putting in a great performance themselves).