Part 4 The future in the past. by Charles Veritie
Arsene Wenger’s family home was close to the French border with Germany.
For our next two managers we turned to the southern French Border and to the Spanish Basque Region of Northwest Spain and Unai Emery. Sadly, he wasn’t to be part our FA Cup Glory record.
That came with the arrival of our second Basque manager Mikel Arteta who in his first season led us to another FA cup final win for us to bask in the joy of victory, over Chelsea. Our 14th and record cup final win.
Here we have a parallel with the past.
The year is 1950 and the history of Arsenal is full of photos of Joe Mercer holding the FA Cup high and with the biggest of smiles on his face.
He was transferred to us from Everton and shortly afterwards appointed captain.
His playing days over he went into management and, would you believe it? He made his name as the manager of Man City, winning the league and in another season the FA Cup, at a time when Man City were Man Utd’s little kid brother so to speak.
Arteta came to us from Everton and soon after was appointed captain, and led us to FA Cup Glory.
And so, it happened when Arteta’s playing days over he was off to Man City (Where Else?) to get a few tips in football management. It seems to have worked; don’t you think?
We go back in time again this time to Arsene’s first FA cup victory in 1998. In the after-match interview, with Kenny Dalgleish, who said of Arsenal and his Newcastle team.
“They, (Arsenal) were more dangerous when we (Newcastle) had the ball then when they (Arsenal) had the ball’.
A strange comment, but we saw it played out last season. At the opponents end of the pitch and we lose the ball, and the opposition were dangerous. At first, we were able to cope with this but then we couldn’t.
We go back again this time to 1930 and our first Cup Final victory. It is known as the Zeppelin Final because one stopped over Wembley to watch the game below. After the game our first successful F A cup manager Herbert Chapman noted (In today’s words) ‘You can have 90% of the play but it is goals that count.’ How true of our last few league games.
Today, thanks to Arteta, we are as excited (well at least I am) about the future as those fans in the early fifties were. Like them back then we have no idea what the future holds.
Unlike them back then, it is certain we go into the future proud of our FA Cup record.
Like them back then we go into the future:
Proud to say the name: Arsenal.
Charles Veritie
Hear hear and thanks for the rundown of our fa cup wins.
So sad that some of our fans don’t see the fa cup as a major trophy…. at least not until MA won it!!
I am certain Mikel will take all three of our cup competitions seriously this coming season, especially as he was shown what winning it meant in his playing days at The Arsenal.
Ken, all Cups should be taken seriously imo. Some of my greatest days out following The Arsenal have been in Cup games, though some of my saddest as well. Talked to some older supporters and they’ve all said the greatest night they’ve ever experienced at Highbury was in 1970 when we beat Anderlecht to win the Fairs Cup. Nowadays the modern day fan would moan about us even being in that type of competition.
Not that the Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta doesn’t take it seriously or very importantly anymore to win the FA Cup for Arsenal. After he has won it as the Gunners boss when he was first appointed the club’s team coach.
But I think he still does take winning the FA Cup for Arsenal very important.
But the thing is, the losses him and his teams have encountered to suffer for Arsenal in the Cups later after he had guided Arsenal to FA Cup success when he was initially appointed the club’s team coach. Was because his Arsenal teams who played against other teams in the Cups were not as hungry to win as the other teams who were more hungry to win the matches they played against his teams.
Consequently, this has led to the later Arteta’s teams failing to further Arsenal FA Cup wins after they last won it when Arteta just took over the reign of power at Arsenal.
But would Arsenal not have won last season’s Europa League Cup to compensate for their missing out on the Epl title win to Man City? But if the Gunners had shown serious hunger to win it. And played with it in their last ELC home match against Sporting CP.
Despite that Saliba and Tomiyansu fell to injuries for Arsenal early on in the match. But still Arsenal should have beaten Sporting CP to go ahead and play against Juventus in the semi-finals. But if the Gunners had shown more hunger, resilient and discipline to beat Sporting more than they Sporting have shown in the match. But they showed it more than the Gunners on the night as they knocked us out.
But hopefully, lesson has been learnt by Arteta and the Gunners in particular those who played in that game. To henceforth, become very hungry in all Arsenal’s Cup games next season to be winning them and win them.