Another year, another manager and another appearance in the FA Cup Final. It wasn’t the easiest of routes to Wembley and the Gunners started of by beating the Championship winners Leeds in the third round, then came Bournemouth and previous winners Portsmouth.
Sheffield United then made us work right up to the very last minute to set up a semi-final against Man City that no one expected us to win, but Pep Guardiola tasted a rare defeat to a determined Arsenal side.
Now we are again the underdogs against Chelsea, but we are used to providing shocks at Wembley.
Our legendary keeper David Seaman believes this is a must win game for the Gunners. “It’s a huge game for Arsenal. We need it far more than Chelsea because we need that European place,” said Seaman in the Herald.
“To end a season where we are eighth in the league and no European football is not a very good season at all for Arsenal’s standards. We really need it.
“I am desperate for us to win it. All that desperation comes through the fact that we have not had the best of seasons and we need that European qualification.
“Not just for the club, but also to attract other players as well. I am sure Arteta has got plans to bring players in. I just hope the board backs him on what he wants and who he wants, because in Mikel Arteta we have got a really good manager and you don’t want to lose someone like that just because the board won’t back him or give him money to spend.”
We are all desperate to win it, but we all know Chelsea are not the type of team to give in without a fight. Maybe it’s the influence of our new coach Mikel Arteta that has given us back our belief, but Seaman admits that he thought Mikel was the wrong choice for the job at first. He said: “When he first joined I was a little bit disappointed because I thought they might have gone with Patrick Vieira because of his time at the club and also his experience, he’s been a manager elsewhere.
“But when I saw his first interview I was like, ‘Woah, this guy knows what he wants’. To do what he has done, I think he has done a great job and that is why the club and the board need to back him.
“They need to buy the players he wants. He knows what he is doing, he will know what he wants and hopefully he can get those.”
We all know a Europa place will give Arteta more funds to play with, so it does sound like we are all desperate to win this game. Fingers crossed we keep our cool and get the job done!
