At last, The Cup Final is here..!!!!!! If at the start of this season you had said to me that Arsenal would go on a league run where they'd lead the table for close to half of the season but then fall away in the run up to the ultimate prize.. yet still have a chance to win the FA CUP, I'd have been a happy man..Its not because i value the FA CUP more than the league trophy, but ever since that night in 2011 when Obafemi Martins sank a dagger in our collective hearts, iv been like the equivalent of a trophy fiend..fidgeting and bleeding from the nose whilst seeking where my next trophy ''fix'' would come from. Ironically we have not been any where close to landing any silverware ever since. Prior to our qualification for this final via that nerve wracking semi final against Wigan, its been tales of woe in the FA CUP for us down the years..our cumulative score card since 1986 reads thus:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (culled from arsenal-world.co.uk) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In all we have an overall win percentage of 59.2% on home,away and on neutral grounds..I felt at first that this statistic was rather poor given our record behind United as the 2nd most successful side in the competition..but my impression changed when i considered all the losses that may have come from replays that used to occur very frequently those days.. sometimes up until the finals on some occasions. It was common to have replays occur in nearly every round back in those days when almost every team was at par squad-wise..all these contributed to our reduced wins per game ratio. We enjoyed significant success in the late nineties and early noughties in this tourney under Wenger. Back then it was common to see us always challenging until the latter stages of the competition, something which was no small feat at all to attain. Yes, there's been some good moments like Freddie Llunbergs Goal in the 2002 final.. or Viera's penalty to clinch the 2005 final against United...but bad ones also exist, those Flashes of that 1999 semi-final still remain fresh, as i recall how Ryan Giggs eliminated us within the closing minutes of a game we really had no business Losing. Or who can forget the calamity that was Mikael Silvestre floundering on the Wembley turf as Drogba powered past him to bury our cup hopes in 2008. As painful as those games were, no one will deny it didn't add to the overall spectacle of this epic competition. |
We have a chance to add yet another historical footnote on this great tournament on Saturday ( for all the right reasons hopefully) and also end our trophy-less curse at the same time. I cant tell you how much i want this jinx ended. Its like the only thing i hear everywhere i go...London, Lagos, Southafrica its always the same old shit....''Arsenal are trophyless for 9 years bla bla bla...'' Then there's that stupid meme from twitter that shows Mofasa from Lion king talking to his son who asked '' Dad what's a Trophy? and the Dad responds : "Son, we are Arsenal fans we do not know what a trophy looks like" All that must END come saturday. Every one in the squad bar Vermaelen is available for selection judging from the training photos available on the official website. Diaby, Chamberlain, Ramsey are back and rearing to go and its a no-brainer to say we are in a far better place psychologically and personnel wise than we were in that Semi final versus Wigan. At that time, Back to back disappointing results had seen us go into the game Low on confidence and lucky to emerge victorious against a very good Wigan side. No such worries this time. We look back to our best...Hull will be without dangerous outlets like Long and Jelavic (Cup tied) but they still boast of Matty Fryat and George Boyd..We aren't strangers to disappointment on the big stage and i'd like to see the lads ensure they remain Confident, switched on,and patient against a possible defensive tactic from Steve Bruce's men right to the very end. Come final whistle, there is no greater sight every Arsenal fan the world over would want to see other than the boys climbing those glorious stairs to the dignitaries on the path to being handed a Trophy a real life shiny Trophy! c'mon Arsenal..
No comments:
Post a Comment