Having improved our Premier League finishing and also showed some brilliant form and consistency in the second half of the season to do so, Arsenal fans are reasonably happy and optimistic about next season and a more sustained title challenge.
But we still need to complete the job in the FA cup and beat Aston Villa in the final at Wembley to give us a real trophy to celebrate, although Arsene Wenger reckons that the pressure and expectation on him and his players is nothing like it was against Hull City a year ago.
As reported by Sky Sports, the Frenchman still insists that the Gunners are totally focused on winning the cup and becoming outright the most successful club in the history of the world’s oldest football competition.
Wenger said, “I cannot measure the pressure on me,” Wenger said at his pre-match press conference. “But personally I am always the same when I go to big game like this – I just want to do it.
“Maybe last year the expectation level was more demanding – the demand was absolute last year. But we have our own demands inside the group here and we have high expectation for our game on Saturday and we want to do it.
“It’s not easy [to equal George Ramsay’s six wins as a manager]. I would love to do it but I’m not honestly focused on that. I like to beat records but that’s not the most important thing on Saturday.
“I’m more focused on the fact that we have fought so hard to get there. We went to Man United to qualify and we had to win big games to get there. Now we want to finish the job. The most important thing is that we come back home all together and happy.”
That win last year was very important after nine years without a trophy and that was why there was so much pressure on Arsenal. It showed in the final as well as we started slowly and only got going when our backs were to the wall. So is there really a lot less pressure on us this year and will that help with the performance?
Maybe but I still think there is a lot of pressure on the players as they know that losing the final would put a big black mark on the season and make it not such a happy camp after all. What do you think Gooners?
The FA Cup trophy holds tremendous value, and we must win it.
The money that will made off the trophy will do wonders for my war chest.
We will have pressure on us, we need this trophy. Our season depends on it.
No if anything its greater, If you compare this year to last what have we achieved; The Community Shield, 3rd Place Finish and potentially an FA Cup again. For a side to call themselves worthy title challengers, they have to show some element of progression, as trivial as it is, i remember Last year when Paul Merson said Arsenal need to build upon what they have achieved the previous season. We are never going to be able to buy the league like City or Chelsea did we simply don’t have the financial fire power they do. But in winning the FA Cup it shows the club has an ambition to develop, this in turn keeps star players around which means we have the ability of attracting more big names “seeking a challenge”. Allowing us to eventually push for more the Title, Capitol 1 cup or Champions League. THINK OF ARSENAL LIKE A SHARK, IF WE SMELL BLOOD WE START HUNTING, EVENTUALLY WE WILL GET OUR PREY!!!
but if we win we’ve basically equalled wat we did last year,so is that really progression?Fair enough in the league we’ve managed to get automatic CL qualification this time so thats an improvement,but we’ve scored 7 points less this term,so is that really us progressing or is it the teams around us regressing?
I can’t help remembering what Paul Scholes said last season about us being a long way off the title,and Wengers response that we’re only 7 points away.Well this season even with the addition of Sanchez we are now 12 points away.Looks like Paul Scholes was right,i always knew he was.For us to challenge for the league and the CL,our squad need alot of change(Flamini,Diaby,Arteta,Podolski,Campbell,) and a goalkeeper,DM,and a top striker must be found for us to really challenge.The question is does Wenger now understand what Scholes was talking about?For us to challenge he needs to
We finished third in the league (something we had not managed to do for several seasons), winning against all the big teams except chelski(another thing we hadn’t managed to do for several seasons) and we qualified for a second successive Fa cup final. In my opinion, whether we win the FA cup or not my friend, we have progressed. WI’ll the progress be sustained? I’m afraid only time can tell.
Mistamon,how the hell have we progressed if we don’t win anything this year?we finished 3rd the season Van persie left thats 3 seasons ago,but the real point is that theres no point only going 1 step forward when Chelsea are taking 3 or 4 and they’re already ahead of us.This slow progression(if it is real progression)is equivalent to standing still,its not enough
First off, some basic facts – 4pts not 7.Whilst I understand why you would want to jump all over the points total as “evidence” of decline I think you are wide of the mark and clutching at straws. Points total is more a relative indicator as to where you stand against the other competitors. A mathematician or logistician will tell you that when the range of possible outcomes is defined and limited for all time (you cannot score more than 114pt or less than zero) then there can be no such thing as continuous improvement. The spread of points will fluctuate every season. 75 points has won the league before. 4th place qualification has been possible with as little as 60 points. The best you can do is see where you are relative to the competition.
If you want to insist on points totals then perhaps looking at longer trends is more useful rather than arbitrary snap-shots. Last three seasons we have averaged 75 points. The three seasons before our average was 71.
I think people should look at the relative position and then use their eyes and intuition in other important areas to decide whether there has been any improvement. Were we harder to beat? Look at the transfer activity compared to the previous year. Improved quality depth in squad? Were we more consistent? I think we have improved and I use nothing more than my confidence going in to any game being far higher than it was last year.
How we have performed this season is just a reflection on the standard of football the league is playing. This is the only league in the world where newly promoted sides can spend £40 Million a year on players, the BPL in all honesty is at its most competitive, But as i mentioned before we can only attract/keep the high quality players if we show we are capable of winning silverware, We don’t have a 700 million pound War chest to spend on players so were not gonna buy the league. But people like Alexis Sanchez, Ozil don’t wait 15 years for titles if you remember ( and i hate bringing this up) this is why we lost Vieira, Henry, Fabregas. They never left because of money, the question was were they showing ambition to win a title at the time sadly no. Anyway point being For the second summer in a row, we are not going into a transfer wondering are we going to loose anyone of significance. We are looking to strengthen with the promise that we will challenge for the league.
how can it at its most competitive when Chelsea won by a mile?
Everton, West Ham, QPR, Crystal Palace, United, Burnley,Liverpool,Southampton All games Chelsea Won or drew by a singular Goal. With the exception of Liverpool and United 5 years ago i see that line up of games i see an Win by 2 goals or more, Fast Foward to this year no one would dare predict an easy win, the point being teams this year are a hell of a lot more dangerous than they were then. Addressing Chelsea winning the title by a “mile” Look at the quality players they have, they have the ability to see out games and win ugly when the need calls for it, most of the lower table teams see a top 4 team they aim for a draw, but the perseverance and reliance of those Chelsea players is testament “They won the league by a mile”. The difference between Arsenal and Chelsea being when push comes to shove, who is there to knuckle down and get result for the club? We have Sanchez, But 1 Man doesn’t make a difference. NOW LINK IT BACK TO THE POINT I MADE EARLIER IT ALL MAKES SENSE.
In addition, the level of consistency that Chelsea showed has also been key to their success. You don’t get consistency with average players.
LOl.”link it back to the point i made earlier” this is rubbish,my point is that the premier league wasn’t very competitive this year,Chelseas easy win giving proof to this point.What you’ve done is talk a whole load of rubbish about wins of 2 goals or more.A quick tip mate people judge the competitiveness of a competition by how close the top teams are,not the mid table ones
From the top 4 Teams, 3 of the 4 teams left it till the last 3 games in the season to solidify Champions League football, I really don’t know what more competition you’d want. With regards again to Chelsea THEY WERE ON A DIFFERENT PLANET. To what i mentioned earlier Chelsea have a ‘fantastic team’ not solely dependent on one player. If we loose our top goal scorer ‘were stuffed’ when they lost Costa they replaced with more than capable candidates. You are Right with regards to competitiveness, But Chelsea will always be worlds apart in terms of class of player, BECAUSE THEY HAVE TONS OF MONEY. What i was establishing with the minor points you picked up is how difficult picking up points in the league is against the lower sides now, YOU DON’T WIN GAMES WITH MEDIOCRE PLAYERS, I’m just saying when clubs outside the top 4 boast better defenders, strikers and midfielders in some aspects, how can you expect to be in competition against the best. And Since Arsenal can’t buy the league by pouring stupid amounts of money into it, In order to get the star players/ Keep them at the club, YOU HAVE TO SHOW AMBITION. Hence why the point i was making was that winning the FA CUP, FINISHING 3RD, WINNING THE COMMUNITY SHIELD, can prove a persuasive factor FOR ARSENAL IN ATTRACTING THE BIG NAME PLAYERS THAT WILL PUT THEM ON PAR WITH THE LIKES OF CHELSEA..
You’re Judging Arsenal by their competitiveness to the league winners, They can form a side from their reserves bench that could finish comfortable in the top half of the league! That’s the thing we are too dependent on specific players we don’t see the draw back which is the fact we over work them and when they get injured or loose form through fatigue and we start saying the “OLD ARSENAL CURSE IS BACK”, Reality is mate it aint curse, Only 1 Player has started every game for Chelsea this season John Terry. Chelsea rotated the players to the point nearly every single player in the first team has featured 3 times, And those Plan B’S where more than capable of holding the mantle piece, For Example Costa’s replacement Remy, Hazard (Cuadrado) Oscar(Willian) and so on and so forth to the point that every one of those players are replaceable. Can you say the same for Arsenal? You ask why we are stuck competing with the teams outside the top 4 for a top 4 positions rather than the title. THATS YOUR ANSWER!!!!!!
weve only had one good wembley apperance recently against city. other games have gone into extra time. lets make this a strong performance this time. COYG!
Less pressure than last year, that’s for sure. Last year was all about the drought, all the pressure was heaped on the players and they knew the embarrassment to the club of losing, especially as we were nailed on favourites. Not to mention that if we had lost, it’s almost certain that Wenger would have left, even after the game Wenger pretty much said that if we lost he wouldn’t have stayed. The players knew they were playing for his future too.
But this year it’s not about ending a drought or saving the manager, it’s more about just winning the trophy, not because we need to win it but because we want to win it. It’s about making history as the first club to win it 12 times. Winning it this year seems to have much more positive reasons – more about the desire and happiness of winning a trophy than the desperation and relief of ending a drought.
Still a must win game.
Aston Villa have everything to win, nothing is expected from them. Arsenal have everything to lose. If that’s not pressure, then I don’t know what is.
A win is just the simple story…
Last year we were sitting at the end of our seats but this time the Job should be done quickly.. Not to forget a clean sheet 4-0 my score.
I’m more worried about wenger’s team selection against villa, I hope he doesn’t start either wilshere or ramsey on the wings
Theo should start on the right