Every single Arsenal fan in the world was immensely proud of the way OUR team completely dominated the FA Cup Final against Aston Villa from kick off to the final whistle, but can you imagine how it must felt to be Arsene Wenger, seeing HIS team retain the trophy with such an elegant display?
It was a record breaking performance that saw Arsenal win for the twelfth time, and Wenger himself was manager for half of those victories. “I’m very proud of that because if it has not been done, it shows that it is not easy.” Le Prof said. “All of us want to achieve things that are difficult. It’s great for the club as well because we’ve won it 12 times, more than any other club. Personally, I’ve played in seven finals and won six, so I am very proud of that.”
And did he think that this was the best performance out of the six? “I don’t really know but it was a convincing one because we were at it from the first until the last minute. I never felt that the focus dropped or that the quality dropped. Overall it became comfortable in the end, but we missed some chances in the first half. On top of that we had two important moments. We scored just before half-time and just after half-time, and of course that was too much for Villa with the quality we had today.”
“I am very happy, very proud and absolutely thrilled because we won the FA Cup but the performance was there as well,” Wenger continued. “The quality of the performance was outstanding today and it was a good advert for the FA Cup because we played in a very convincing way. I cannot fault one player – everyone was absolutely outstanding.
“We started strong, stayed strong and finished strong. That is what you ideally want but you do not always get it, but today we got it.
“I think it shows as well that this team has moved forward since the beginning of last season. We are now a much more mature team, who knows its way and plays as well fantastic football.”
So does he believe that Arsenal now have the right team to go on and win the League next season? “Of course we can push on. Why not?” he gushed. “We have won the league in the past when we’ve had the potential to do it and that’s what we want to do again.
“We want to show that we can match anybody next season but we don’t know how good the other teams will be. It is about consistency at the top level and we have shown signs of consistency. In the past when we have won leagues, we have been consistent. We didn’t lose for 49 games. Nobody else has done it. When we have a good confidence level and the quality, we can be consistent.”
Wenger is now close to instilling that Invincibles feeling on the players, and they are definitely getting closer to being nigh on unplayable. The club as a whole has finished the season on a fantastic high and can return full of confidence to start winning right from the word ‘GO’ in the next campaign.
Onwards and Upwards!