Arsene Wenger’s record in the FA cup is remarkable by KM
Well, as Arsenal secured their record-breaking 12th FA cup I have to admit that Arsene Wenger’s record in this specific tournament is fantastic. He has led arsenal to half of those cups and when you consider the fact he’s only lost 1 of 7 finals, even though we dominated that game too, it’s even more impressive.
Take into account the fact that we sacked the FA cup in favor of other competitions makes the achievement even bigger. Although I really believe we could be bigger than we are now, and that Arsene will not take us back to the heights that I feel this club can achieve but I am happy with the season.
We will skip a CL qualification game and we’ve won a trophy for the second year in a row. That’s more like it. The players themselves feel that this team can do more. They know that with a few signings in the right areas we would be up there with Chelsea.
Full credit to the manager that for once he rotated and the rotations worked. Walcott started instead of Giroud who had a bad run of games. We rested Ramsey in the WBA game and he was magnificent. So was the entire squad.
I was really impressed how well prepared we were for the occasion. We were focused, disciplined and never looked in trouble. If we can maintain such focus for an entire season we will be serious challengers.
One thing I didn’t like was the typical post-game Wenger interview, when asked on the transfers he said we cannot go for Pogba or Bale. It’s sad because the money is there and those players would undoubtedly improve our squad.
This doesn’t mean of course that we want players that cost tenths of millions of pounds. Coquelin does a good job and he cost us nothing. Lewandowski was bought for peanuts in Dortmund. If a 3 million pound signing can improve us I’d take him as easily as I would a 80 million one.
Juventus is the latest prime example of a team who works with players that don’t cost ‘stratospherical’ prices but do a job. You can always cost 50 million and be a flop like Fernando Torres, or Radamel Falcaos wages. But then again we payed massive money for Ozil and Alexis and you see that money can and does buy quality. Sanchez is by far the best player we had this season and his thunderbolt of a goal was a pure joy to see.
The biggest transfer for me is a solid keeper. A proven top quality goalkeeper himself will cut the gap to the top in half alone. We all know where we need to strengthen. I just hope we do it early so we prepare well for next season.
I think the players really enjoy the feeling of lifting silverware over their head. It is what you play your entire career for. We have a bunch of good players who can now tell their kids how they won two successive FA cups. The open bus parades are also a joy to the fans. I really hope this becomes the usual thing at Arsenal.
Finally I’d like to mention that the two successive FA cups also mean that this squad is better than the “project youth” we had in the previous years. Despite having some very talented players over the years, it turns out that maybe they weren’t good enough to lead Arsenal to trophies, so they went elsewhere to get their asses carried to some.
Next season will be exciting. We don’t need to sell anymore. As always the next season will start with the question of whether we can be not only a flashy piece of jewelery but a solid hammer too that can deliver the knockout blow.
I really believe we are close. Will we make the needed steps? Only time will tell.
Have a sublime week to enjoy your FA cup….
Konstantin