It was inevitable that the next time that Arsenal and Hull City met on the pitch after the great day at Wembley on the 17th of May, the subject of the FA cup would come up. Of course we Arsenal fans are hoping for the same result when the final whistle blows, but I would rather it does not turn out to be such a nerve wracking encounter.
Jack Wilshere has been talking to Arsenal Player about that famous clash at Wembley and although he claims that the Arsenal players were confident we would lift the trophy, it was evident on the day, and in the semi-final with Wigan, that there were a lot of nerves around and a lot of pressure on the Arsenal players because of the well publicised nine year wait for a trophy.
Jack said, “It was a fantastic day for the whole team. We played against a side we expected to beat but it was a cup final and they were always going to be up for it.
“They got two early goals but we always felt that if we got the goal before half-time we’d go on and win it – thankfully we did.
“Our players were tired in extra-time so we needed a lift. I’ve read since that the boss didn’t want it to go to penalties because he’d taken his penalty takers off. We knew we had 15 minutes to win the game.
“Me and Tomas had been warming up since half-time and the boss knew we would get the ball and run at the defence and we did that. Tomas and I were involved in Aaron’s goal so it was a good effort from us.
“Hull were a good team last year but they’ve improved their squad and they’ve got a year of experience in the Premier League. They’re going to be a hard team to play against because their players will want to do well at the Emirates.”
I am sure that Wenger and the players will focus on that great comeback and it will help if we do go behind on Saturday, but we should play with more freedom than we did at the cup final and maybe it would be better to think about the Premier League game a little before that final, when we went to Hull and blew them away 3-0. Can we do it again?