Francis Coquelin may now be the lynchpin of Arsenal brilliant recent run, but it seems strange to think that just a few months ago he was playing in the Championship with Carlton, therefore he is the only Gunner with first-hand experience against Reading this season.
Le Coq says that the Royals are not going to be an easy touch at Wembley tomorrow. “You know the FA Cup, you don’t know what to expect – any team is ready for it and it is always a tough game at any stage,” he told Arsenal.com.
“A semi-final at Wembley will be even tougher. We need to be ready and start on the front foot. Hopefully we can do that and win the game.
“I remember a tough game [against them for Charlton]. We won 1-0, but to be honest I don’t think we really deserved it.
“They put a lot of pressure on us, they have Pogrebnyak up front who is a big threat, and on the wings they have great players as well. We know it will be a tough game, it is a semi-final and the league you play in doesn’t matter.
“Whether you are in the Championship or the Premier League, in a game like this the team who puts the most pressure on and creates the most chances will win. If everyone is focused, we know we can get a good result.”
It would seem that Reading have dropped down the table since then and may not be quite so formidable, but I would just like to say one thing to Francis – Charlton may have had a hard game against Reading, but we are not Charlton. We are ARSENAL!
Le coq has a point though! Its the fa cup, and no one can be taken for granted! We must be focus, and take care of business against reading, for the final awaits us! We are arsenal! Coyg!
No team should ever take any game for granted, that is a fools errand.
United had so much success under Ferguson because he told them he wanted to be 3-0 up at 15 minutes no matter who they played.
Play with that mentality and you will win games.
COYG to Wembley!
FA cup?
The Premier League, yes.
The Champions league, yes.
European Championship
and the World cup, yes.
The FA Cup?
A good win over Man U in the quarters was good.
But Home wins v Hull and Middlesbrough and
an away win v Brighton not so exciting.
Now the mighty Reading in the semi… zzzzzz.
I want Arsenal to win a real trophy 🙁
I tell you one thing. We all know who the hell is Jose Mourinho. The most imperious and pragmatism manager in modern football. He has a full rack of titles. From FC Porto to Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid. I don’t know how many cups he’s been collecting, and its really doesn’t matter.
YES! FOR MOURINHO, IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT CUP YOU HAVE IN THE RACK, AS LONG AS YOU WON IT. Did you see when he picked up Carling Cup trophy few months ago? HAHAHA… That’s a dull tier 3 cup, but he was so proud. No different expression from him between a tier 3 cup or European Champions Cup. WINNING MENTALITY! That’s what he ‘s addicted. GOT IT CRAP?!
I have watched the FA CUP for 40 years. It has always been the biggest competition in England. The FA Cup was a holiday event like the Grand National horse race. You gathered round the table with 15 people in the house to watch the FA Cup.
I don’t know when the johnny come lately group decided that with the twitter twats that the FA Cup was “small”, but you all can take that attitude and sit on it.
I am proud of ALL our FA Cups especially the five under Wenger, Man U fans are proud of their FA Cups, Liverpool is, the Spuds too, but it takes an Arsenal fickle phucker to denigrate the achievements of a club they supposedly support.
Any Chelsea fan ever refuse to count their club’s FA Cup wins?
The FA Cup IS a real trophy.
It has so much history and tradition and was part of our Doubles. We won both FA Cup and PL trophies in the same years.
Yes winning the CL would be awesome but the FA Cup IS definitely a real trophy