Ahead of the FA Cup final, the Arsenal star Theo Walcott has fired a warning towards the Gunners’ opponents for the big game at Wembley, Aston Villa. The speedy winger claimed that his side are impossible to play against whilst playing free-flowing football and has firmly set his sights on a win on Saturday night to cap off a good season and to provide an ideal platform for battling for bigger honours next season.
As reported by the Daily Star, the English international said: “There’s a good sense of belief in this team. We can take that into the weekend and hopefully get another trophy. When it is free-flowing football like that, we’re impossible to play against.”
“We’ve had a great run. We’ve finished third and if we win the FA Cup next week, that’s a good season. But I think that next season, we need to be challenging for the title, with the team we’ve got.”
Theo is right, the Gunners are indeed impossible to play against whilst playing free-flowing football like we saw in the final Premier League game against West Brom, but the crucial factor is whether Theo and the rest of the boys will be allowed to play like that against Villa. The Baggies , especially in the first-half, weren’t really much into the game. Don’t get me wrong, I am taking nothing away from Arsenal’s performance, but it did help our cause that Tony Pulis’ team were already well into their holidays.
I am one of those people that are of the opinion that third place and the FA Cup will be a significant improvement on the last campaign, not only in terms of our position in the table but also in our defensive record and the appearance of a Plan B in Arsene Wenger’s playbook. Needless to mention, we’ve signed great players like Sanchez, Ospina and Gabriel and have witnessed the emergence of young stars like Coquelin and Bellerin.
Having said that, I completely agree with Theo, a victory in the FA Cup final against Aston Villa would be a perfect way to end what has been a good season for the club. Let’s hope that the team can do the job at Wembley on Saturday and build a good platform for scaling greater heights next season.
Anurag