As usual, Arsenal were expected to dominate a game against (easy?) opposition, but yet again the fans were made to suffer for over 100 minutes before Alexis Sanchez scored a very lucky winner against the hapless Reading keeper.
Arsene Wenger felt that the Gunners were dominant, but he expected the Royals to make us fight for everything. Le Prof said after the game: “It was a difficult game against a very resilient, well-organised, physically very strong side. They were a committed Reading team who were comparable to what we faced last year against Wigan Athletic. We have improved a bit because we needed the penalties last year but it meant we got through.
“We had a lot of possession – I think we had 23 shots on goal and 72 per cent possession – but it was still difficult to find space because they defended very well. I was surprised how strong they were in the challenges. In the second half they became even stronger in the challenges and we suffered a little bit then, and lost some balls that we’re not used to losing.
“In the end we were a bit lucky because their goalkeeper made the mistake and I can understand that. He kept them in the game as well for long periods.”
After Sanchez scored the opener early on, we could have been forgiven for thinking that we were going to go and win in style, but Arsenal let our opponents back into the game. “I don’t think we switched off,” Wenger continued. “but I felt that we didn’t come out after half-time with the same intensity that we had in the first half. In the first half we controlled the game well and you felt the goal would come. In the second half we suddenly started to suffer. We paid for that.”
“What was missing was a bit of speed in the combinations in the final third and maybe sharpness. The spirit and the concentration was there. We lacked a bit of sharpness to create more clear-cut chances maybe.”
It is a fact that Arsenal did not seem to be as sharp as usual, and we will have to play a lot better in the Final, and hope we can get a record-breaking win. Wenger is not taking anything for granted: “The records show that we are consistent and that is most difficult.” he said. “I believe that we now need to focus on our next game. We come back here in the final, we have time to prepare and overall the final is a 50/50. If we can beat that record we will be very happy. The final is 50/50 so let’s hope we have all our players available to come back in a good shape.”
It may not have been pretty, but at least Arsenal got over our potential banana skin to get to the Final again. And we now have another great day to look forward to…..
we’re still missing something. a stone-cold striker who can dribble. martinez looked v.good versus bayern. if giroud injured for a few wks next year, we’re at the welbeck level. for PL next season we need more than that. also, if coq injured.. we’re at the flam/arteta level. to win PL next year , we need a bit more and i think we can get it in the summer if wenger believes we’re a bit short.
We have made most of our strikers. We made them Henry Anelka Wiltord RVp etc . IF Giroud can improve this much techinically and clinically then I don’t see why danny welbeck won’t make thesame progress. Buying jackson Martinez is not realistic when you have Giroud.
We are not some dump silly l mancity who will buy Jovetics and not register him for Champions league. Then go and buy mangala and Bony for £65 million and never play them. We have to be realistic in our transfer expectations.
We also have so many forwards that need to go cause of game time. We have sanogo campbell and Podolski. There are loads of issues to be sorted.
That said I totally agree with the DM/CM arguement. As flamini and Arteta will be pass it. So yes the arguement of getting another top top Dm is a valid one. But maybe am just bias but COQuelin is my DM even next season. what a lad. Some people may want him replaces. But he does his job well. he may not be flamboyant or pass the ball like Arteta busquet or morgan or carrick. should we care about that? ozil cazorla rambo jack sanchez are ther for creativity. COQ IS THE BEST POLLICE OFFICER IN THE WORLD. HE IS LIKE GATUSSO. he wins it and gives it to those more creative. Then he goes back into position. Brilliant.
Finally people talk about us needing to buy a center back?? have you guys watch gabrille paulista ? Or am I the only one amazed by the bargain? £11 million for such quality CB. Give Wenger a Knighthood. He is strong. fast. tackle hard and clears the ball no nonsense style and good in the air. he is ugly too and frighten the hell out of strikers. Isn’t that what we have all been asking for? He can play Right and left CB with ease . We have 4 CB in Chambers Per Boss and Gaby. What other CB do we need? Should we just buy for the sake of it?
I think we have a terrific squad with good age balance. One or 2 quality additions and we are perfect. the big clubs make few changes in a season. No need bringing 6 players then we start loosing games at the start of the season. We are very settle now.
Excellent!
fully in support of the stated points.
We floated like a butterfly and stung like one.
It was Reading for Gods sake.
yes we were not at our best. But calling it luck is pure nonsense. Look at Chelsea’s last 4 games. then you will know what luck is. Some people on here will call it tactical masterclass. But when it comes to Arsenal they say we were lucky. fxxxxxxxx off to all media.
Sometime I don’t know why so.many pundits and media don’t like arsenal. Our last match you can hear all the commentators talk bad about arsenal. If some one can enlightened me please do so. Did Wenger or any arsenal players or staff make them so anti arsenal?
They’re bitter because he made them eat their words. They all expected Wenger to be the next Clough but he proved his class as he’s always done since ’96. Arsenal will always be bigger than Chelsea and Man City.
What Media?
This is the exact quote from ARSENE WENGER – “In the end we were a bit lucky because their goalkeeper made the mistake…”
yes he said so beacuse he was asked by the media if we were lucky. No need acting like LVG and defending yourself to the media everytime. Sometimes tell them what they want to hear and go away. The commentators talk about how poor we was all game. Did you watch the game or didn’t you hear what the commentators were saying?
They never showed how we hit the post 3 times. if that was reading they would have said reading miss 3 clear goal scoring chances.
When Szcesney fxxxx us vs birmingham they never asked Mclish if they were lucky. with Arsenal its always a problem.
chelsea were shit and the pundit said that is the Mark of a Champion. lol you gotta love the press.
Alan shearer & Garry Liniker would never say Arsenal played well, it would be an error from opposition goalie or Arsenal were very lucky the opposition team played so poor.
Those two idiots who made the play poor in match? If they have something called brain in there head then they will understand
What about Readings luck? Goalpost saving them 3 times, 2 goalkeeping errors suffered by both teams, no attacking threat, 300 odd passes against 800 odd from Arsenal, parking the bus and hoping for a miracle counter attack goal, robust tactics and constant fouling to stop us from playing, almost gifted an offside goal, but thanks to Schez saving.
I don’t buy this luck story since Reading never really threatened and the game was played more in their half. And yes, no one felt sorry for Shezny after that goal, but sympathize with Frederico. We won, that’s what matters and luck had nothing to do with it. Even their penalty appeal was ball-to-hand and rightfully not given.
@admin / Media
What about the goal Reading scored against us, was that a classy goal or lucky Reading ? Was Reading very lucky to score the goal
The media always need to criticize Arsenal. The next Article will be has Arsenal progressed this season? crazy crazy crazy. Funny some fans will be contemplating and asking if we have progressed.
See there are 20 teams in the league. But for Chelsea can any other team say that they won’t like to be in our shoes or trade places with us? We are 2nd in the league and the possibility to retain the FA cup. We won the community shield at the beginning of the season too. If some people think that is not progress then go support another team.
We won reading fair and square. created the most chances and hit the post 3 times in one game. Gabrille hit the post. Giroud hit the post. And Rambo hit the post. If that is not Badluck then I don’t know what the term luck is.
Tired of media and some fans looking for negativity when there is nothing. Come on arsenal.
I really hope szczesny aint in goal for the final every time the ball went anywhere near our box i was worried he has completley lost it and i cant see it coming back , for next season i’d personally like reus/draxler and schneiderland/kondogbia if we get 2 of the 4 then i think we have such a good chance of winning more silverware next season and not just the f.a cup ….. come on villa today
Take goal keeping errors out and we won 1-0
Don’t think people really understand what happened yesterday. Yes we were quite poor in parts, but we did also have 70% of possession and hit the woodwork three times. People also don’t seem to realise that Reading were playing out of their skins. If you’ve watched any of Reading this season, you’d see that the team we played yesterday were a different one to the team that’s been playing the rest of the season. The Reading players knew that this was their only chance to ever win the FA cup so went all out for it. While we are a better team technically, we can’t match the commitment of a team who will likely never reach a cup final again. The team selection was good apart from Ramsey and Debuchy and for me you can’t blame Wenger for putting Ramsey there as it worked before and Debuchy is a full international so should’ve performed better even if he just can back from injury. We just had one of those days and thankfully we came through and we are going to Wembley.
If ramsey Plays wide you know he is going to drift inside and congest play. Then there is big gap created on the right and you need and electrifying fullback to exploit that space. either debuchy was not fit or he lost some pace. debuchy will be great with a winger as he is just like Monreal. A good solid full back. But if you have a Rambo playing ahead of debuchy then surely you will need a a guy like Bellerini to expliot the space when rambo drifts inside.
That’s fair enough but I still expected Debuchy to do more going forward. Most of his defensive work was good but didn’t offer enough the other way. It’s his first game back so I’ll let him off but he needs to start pushing up more for me. At the minute, I think Bellerin suits our style more than Debuchy.
Well its a good problem to have. Competition all over the pitch . having a clear number 1 just makes things a lil bit more easy sometimes. Debuchy will have to fight for his place just like jack theo Welbeck gibbs etc.
debuchy is not fully fit/back. ramsey had guts to take a few shots yesterday and bit unlucky not to get one. he has to be our b2b. cazorla missing-in-action. cant have ramsey and caz. when ox comes back, i’ll welcome him at RW. bellerin > debuchy ATM.
That is not necessarily true. When he plays there it is Ozil that fills in for Ramsey at right wide and that is why it works so well. But with no Giroud, Welbeck never really held the middle ground which meant Sanchez and Ozil were playing there too much.
If anything, I would say Giroud coming on is what changed it. We were the better team from there on in.
Just goes to show we nead 2-3 players to make a difference. Gibbs hasn’t got the confidence to pass the ball forward,he gets to pass back to often and is not good at defending Monreal is a class act so we need to add there Ramsey is not a wide player,why Wenger doesn’t play his strongest first then make the 2subs in 65min and Walcot should have started as Ramsey is better in Midfield. We have Chelsea next week and hope the team he puts out is the strongest as we will get slaughtered and we can’t let the team go through that again, and the fans to. CB
vs chelsea: wenger will abs put his best team out.
i hope ox is back.
Yes I think someway we are lucky, as for Chelsea I think they know what Chelsea good at parking the bus and I did know why they praise that a** Chelsea manager cos he is not always park the bus, from the goal different, you can see that and that a** really know how to tactical play to win games.
As for arsenal we are so use to the time how our invincible played. That free flow of attacking, passing play, those are our trade mark. Now we don’t play beautiful game any more so those pundits seems us as no good or degraded.
Since the start of the year;
Played 20 games
Won 17 Lost 3 Drawn 0
85% of games won
Scored 43 goals
Concealed 16 goals
Won the last 9 games
Keep that up & the league is ours next season
Wenger gave the media what they wanted him to say,there was no luck in our game against reading.the could have finished 1-0,scz did what he is known for and i dont think he will play in the final.
So Arsene has only lost 1 FA Cup Final and that was against Liverpool.
Let’s go Villa!
71% of the world is covered by Water, the rest is covered by Alexis Sanchez.
I think the boss has to start Debuchy for Reading. Because he has to be playing to get back to his top level. And I think his Wembley outing must have helped him in that wise. Besides, I think the boss rested Bellerin for Chelsea. I think the boss has to give Szczeny some 2 BPL games to start the games so as not to render him match rusty ahead of his starting the FA Cup final. I think Gibbs has to be careful not to be deflecting the ball towards our goalkeeper. He deflected Smalling’s ball that led to Man Utd 1st goal at the Emirates Stadium and did the samething that led to Reading’s equalizing goal at Wembley yesterday, The signing of a new top quality striker is a paramount priority for the boss to accomplished next summer. The Gunners’ striker force of Sanchez 22, Giroud 19, Welbeck 8, Walcott 3, Podolski 3 and Sanogo 1 have so far scored a total of 56 goals this season with 7 Arsenal games left to play. But Arsenal 4 strikers will need to score 80 goals on the average in a season in addition to the 30 and10 the mid fielders and the defenders goals to reach the average 120 goal bench Mark required to win the fithdruple. I think the boss will need a top no.5 top goal getter striker to his striker force to collectively reach the average 80 goal bench Mark.