The Thin Red Line Proves Substantial
May 28th, 2017 by 'holic
The day didn’t start well. A massive thunderstorm shook me from my slumber at 5am. With a taxi booked for just after eight there was no point in trying to get back to the land of nod. Coach to Reading, train to Paddington, and two underground journeys later I was north of Wembley for what has become a lucky pre-Final ritual. Haddock fish cakes, melt-in-the-mouth fillet of lamb, and a delicious orange bread and butter pudding in wonderful company settled the nerves and provided a solid base for what was to follow.
An early arrival at the stadium seemed like a good idea and we thanked the armed officers who greeted us. The walk up Wembley Way, whilst difficult for me these days, is always a feature of any Final. Both sets of supporters were in good spirits. A white wine and a can of Beer were obtained on a three year credit agreement in the lower tier concourse as friends gathered to exchange pleasantries.
Our own Bergkamp the Man and I took our seats half an hour before kick-off to soak up the sights and the atmosphere. It was our first time in the lower tier of the new Wembley and it is only from here that one can get a perspective of the vastness of the place that towered into a clear blue sky. The seats around us quickly filled and the sea of red was impressive.
And so to the main feature of the day. Per Mertesacker was passed fit to start his first match of the season alongside Rob Holding and Nacho Monreal. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain switched to fill the left wing-back berth vacated by Kieran Gibbs. It looked very vulnerable to the attacking threat posed by the champions. It was anything but! Danny Welbeck got the nod to start up front with Olivier Giroud benched.
I had suggested beforehand that because of our defensive shortcomings that we would take the game to Chelsea, and wow, how we did. A red swarm enveloped the startled favourites and in just five minutes Alexis, one of ours who loves to score at Wembley, put us ahead. We had to wait for Anthony Taylor to consult with his assistant, a nervous few moments. The signal of the goal sparked a second wave of celebrations. Only this morning have I seen the handball by Alexis as he charges down the clearance. It’s a 50/50 call if he had time to get out of the way of ball from point blank range and we got the benefit of the doubt.
Quite how that slender margin remained at the break was hard to believe. The chances to add to it came and went. Cahill back-heeled Mesut Ozil’s deft chip off the goal-line. Welbeck’s header thumped into the far post and Aaron Ramsey had no time to react and turn it in. Welbeck got clear again and for the second time Cahill effected a goal-line clearance. It was men against boys, and not in the way the experts had predicted beforehand.
On Chelsea’s rare breakouts that makeshift defence remained rock solid, with the excellent Mertesacker a visible tower of strength. Alongside him Holding again belied his tender years while Monreal stood firm. Where this performance came from, who knows, but half of Wembley stayed noisy and proudly behind those who were giving their all for their club.
Chelsea looked a little sharper at the start of the second-half and David Ospina made a couple of fine saves from Kante and Moses. We continued to pose a threat, however, and Courtois had to be alert to deny Ramsey’s lung-bursting run and Bellerin. Next came a twist so unforeseen. Moses, already booked, threw himself to ground in the Arsenal box with Oxlade-Chamberlain inches from any contact. Anthony Taylor, having the expected erratic performance, made the best decision of the evening and showed the miscreant his second yellow and a red card.
Ten men against eleven can be tricky at times, and the introduction of Fabregas added spice to the atmosphere. He played a ball into the box that fell to Costa, and his deflected shot crawled past Ospina in slow-motion over a hundred yards away. Hearts sank for seconds, but all around a series of chants were started to lift the boys in red. I doubt they were needed, stung by what had happened the Gunners gave a counter-attacking masterclass thereafter.
Giroud’s introduction for Welbeck as an impact substitute worked almost immediately. The Frenchman found himself on the byline on the left flank and chipped a perfect ball to the far post for the onrushing Ramsey, another of ours who loves a Wembley goal, to finish with a diving header. Strangers hugged as a swathe of joyous faces celebrated at the East End of this historic venue. Bellerin galloped down the right hand only to hit his effort inches wide.
Chelsea had one last chance to secure the only ‘holic pound I have never wanted to win, but Ospina denied Costa. There remained time for Ozil to wriggle his way into another shooting position in the box, but once again we were denied by the goalpost. It mattered not, The much-maligned official gave a shrill blast on his whistle and the outsiders had landed a record-breaking thirteenth FA Cup. Also a record, the seven won by Arsene Wenger.
The celebrations that followed were savoured by most of the massed ranks of joyous, celebrating supporters who have been through every possible emotion in this season of contradictions. The players, magnificent to a man, took their praise and yet how on earth the man-of-the match award did not go to Aaron Ramsey, or possibly the awesome Mertesacker, was beyond me and those around me.
What had occurred made the tortuous journey home all the more bearable. Rather than celebrate with so many friends I spent time with on the day I had to join lengthy queues to the first leg of the homeward journey. There was plenty of time to reflect on a job well done, and the enormity of the Gunners defeat of the team of the season. Football never fails to surprise and delight at times.
Thanks for reading this season. Your contributions to the drinks have been their usual mix of valid opinion and sheer lunacy! I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was wonderful that some of us should share the joy and excitement of the Final day. And another FA Cup win.
123 Responses to “The Thin Red Line Proves Substantial”
1st, today! Is everybody sleeping yesterday off!
Well played, as Per, ‘H – Wooooooooop Woooooooooooooooooooooooop!
Brilliant game. I watched it after coming back from Salisbury races, and it was only marginally spolit by the racecourse commentator, Mike Cattermole (a gooner) telling the crowd the result!
Best team performance all season, and Monreal my man of the match.
Off to the pub to see the local spud fan….
That’s a top top description of the events yesterday holic.
Thanks for another magnificent season of blogging – this one perhaps mattered more than the previous ones.
Cheers again for yesterday and hopefully the Cup win will be the catalyst for a very good summer for the club and for all the gooners around the globe.
If you’re not Arsenaled out already, the ladies are on BT Sport right now, playing Man City
Dear Holics
Thank you all for your touching expressions of sympathy, they were very much appreciated by all three of us.
David was so looking forward to yesterday and the new cricket season. He was a member of three county sides and spent his summer travelling to tests and one day internationals at Trent Bridge, Headingly and the Oval, all by public transport, he didn’t drive.
He was a huge Arsenal fan from an early age and never missed a game. I remember at the beginning of the season he would go to a match at the Oval until the tea interval and would then come on to the Ems for a 17.30 kick-off.
Gooners come in all shapes and sizes, all personalities and from all back grounds. That’s what makes the social side of games so enjoyable.We are going to miss him terribly.
AW came up with a plan and it worked. We went to the game expecting a heavy defeat and came home astonished how well we played against a side who supposedly only had to turn up to complete the double.
David would have been very proud to have been a Gooner at Wembley yesterday. The team he loved came good and I expect he smiled down on our performance from the best seat in the house.
Thank you Holic for your fine reports and Holics for entertaining me throughout the season with your considered reflections on what was another disappointing campaign in the PL.
COYRs
Thanks Holic for the excellent resume of a fantastic match.
Commiserations to Chelsea , outplayed on the day , but whose quality this season helped make that the most unexpectedly satisfying performance we have had in a long time.
I join my sympathies to those missing absent friends and wish everyone who contributes to this great site a very relaxing summer.
Up the Arsenal.
Thanks for everything this season
GH. It’s been a tough season in many
ways and you’ve been a calm and
sensible voice throughout.
Glad you and many others could enjoy
the day out, well-deserved this year.
For myself I made the, in hindsight,
rash decision to start pre-match drinks
with friends a full 7 hours before kick-
off and as a result remembered little
of the game this morning 🙁
Then, I watched it again 🙂
We played brilliantly well !
If such a thing were possible, your report would make yesterday sound even more enjoyable than it was! But that was the perfect day out from beginning (the first prawn) to the very end (the last Guinness of the day), and even Holic quality penmanship couldn’t possibly add more lustre to the sheen on that cup and the beads of sweat on your forehead when you realised how much had gone down the swanee with the Holic pound 🙂
Quite nerve-wracking to be apprehended by Steve T only metres from the security line on a day which he’d spent on issues of National Importance. How did he know? And equally disappointing to learn that, despite rumours to the contrary and the fact that he had his legs out for the sun, Steve wasn’t playing as our left attacking wingback. We nearly missed the width your presence would have delivered, Steve.
What a fantastic day for Arsene Wenger! Superb team selection, tactical masterclass for the Italian upstart and nerve-tinglingly timely substitution for the winning goal. There is indeed only one. Nice to see the old head put Guardiola, Conte and Meh-rinho to the sword in the last few weeks. No doubt they’ll all go off and spend another half-billion each to try and win the cup next year. And as for Klopp? Top four is not a trophy old chap and your heavy metal is more closely akin to the Bay City Rollers than Metallica.
Holic rolled off and Bath and I made the long homeward treck known only by Bath. Not an air-headed aeroplane pilot with a dick-headed banner in sight. Funny that.
Can’t wait for the Community Shield replay, Holic. See you then. In the meantime, thank you very sincerely for another superb season of some of the highest quality blogging around. There are times when I wonder how you do it. That you do brings me great pleasure. Please keep up the great work (and never bet against a BtM tip of 2-1 to the Arsenal – you know it makes sense).
a more fitting tribute could not be written Delia
Hi All
Just to clarify after yesterday I know nothing about football, I was terrified that Per Mertesacker was starting his first game of the season against Hazzard and co.
WOW !!!!
What a performance from the BFG !!!!!!
What a performance from the whole team but the BFG needs to be singled out as magnificent !!!!!
WOW what a day it was,
UP THE ARSENAL
Delia,
I am sorry to read of the passing of David, he is in my thoughts right now. A lot of good people didn’t quite make the end of the season and respects are paid now.
Thank you for your contributions to the drinks, and for your magnificent support of by far the greatest team the world has ever seen.
Contentment.
Sheer contentment after a season of frustration upon frustration – with him, with them, with us.
Only with 24 hours or so to spare could I even say for certain that I was definitely going to be there, despite having shelled out pounds aplenty for wings and digs. So a debt of great magnitude is owed to Dr Trev of this parish, and my local postie who dropped off his (my) ticket to the ball on Friday.
I woke up under sunny Southern skies and regretted not having an inability to be in two places at the same time. There was an offer of food and drink on one table and only drink (outside) on the other. Geography prevented me doing both. Solids being for softies, you know what Dr Feelgood did.
The pre match natter was all about “how can we possibly win this?” and the continual injury curse that follows Arsenal around like a malodorous cloud. We needed those drinks to fortify us and we ignored the patronising goading of the Irish chavs who had the temerity to try and talk to us about the game, although the instinct was to be bullish and remind them….”shit club, no history…”.
Wolfgang was clearly out of sorts having been told that his Alan Sunderland-extra-tight commerative speedos are not welcome at Club Wembley and put a game effort in at playing straight (you know how that ends, though, right?).
Took the warnings about Security seriously enough to be in the ground more than an hour before the game, which passed very quickly and from the off, you could sense something unscripted was about to follow. You’ve seen it, you felt the same sense of excitement of first half dominance that was backed up with a concern that we should be a further 2 goals ahead.
Second half we started more circumspect – or perhaps as Champions, Conte had tried to get his charges on it. The more they came on to us though, the more we fended them off with collaborative defiance and we looked seriously menacing on the break. The final ball just not coming off but the longer the game went on, the more the surge of excitement built.
I have to say that I would have given long odds on Anthony Taylor making the 2 big calls he got right yesterday. That was another chunk of the script shredded right there. But us having an extra man was what gave Chelsea their last impetus and inevitably they scored. Like everyone else, including the opponent, I was just coming to terms with Ospinas weak effort at the goal when our winning combination of 2014 repeated the trick. I was seated two rows from the back, but ended up in the ozone layer when that goal went in. The last moment of drama, (ignoring us hitting the post, because I knew by then, we had won), was Senor Ospina making up for the goal by preventing the odious Costa getting another.
And so the cup was won – and we got what many of have been screaming for – we got our Arsenal back. That was a true Arsenal performance made up of grit and loads of individual displays each arguably better than the next, against the odds and rammed thoroughly down the populist media’s throat – not before time. I hope that some of the blowhards who have come on here previously and wished for an Arsenal loss (you know who you are) have been choking on their Kellogg’s this morning.
That’s 3 finals and 3 wins in 4 years and I’ve been lucky enough to be at all of them. That would never have happened had it not been for the landlord of this great saloon. My only regret was not seeing him yesterday, but he knows August is just around the corner and with it a dark and stormy glass awaits……
Dear Holic, thank you for your excellent report. But did I sense a bit of reservation towards AW in your words? Bergkamp TM was much more concrete on that front. Or maybe you are saving your words for after the Board meeting. Whatever. Thank you for all the reports and pre-match write-ups.
Thank you all guys for posting here (what a great thing that our Dr F resurfaced here) …your views and opinions help me sound like a very competent football follower (when I am arguing with my friends). Sorry to hear about David…didn’t know the man but he was a Gooner…that is enough.
Looking forward to the next season. Hopefully the Boss will continue…as well as Alexis and Ozil. On the account of yesterdays performance we have a lot to hope for in the next season. Until than, best regards from Visoko (a small town 30KM north of Sarajevo).
That’s a wonderful report of what was undoubtedly the most memorable cup wins of recent times. Thank you ‘Holic for another year of incisive, enjoyable and forthright blogging. You have been playing a relatively serene melody while the (mostly manufactured) negativity around the club reached its screeching chaotic ear-splitting crescendo.
I have not been able to contribute at all in the drinks this year because of lack of any time. However I watched all of our matches — albeit many of them recorded — and read all your posts. And most importantly, I got my five year old to fall in what I hope is going to be a life-long love affair with the Arsenal. He insists on wearing his old “Alexis 17” shirt (even though it is getting too small for him), and after yesterday his demand is for a “Ramsey 8” next year. 🙂
I read somewhere that Martin Kewon had said this win may be Arsène’s finest hour. I guess he meant not as a season but a single match of sheer quality against all odds where Arsène guided the team to demonstrate a masterclass of technical quality, tactical sophistication, courage and togetherness that made everyone realize once again what our great club is all about. Quality, class, dignity.
All of that were in ample display in post-match interviews and celebrations. No egotism, no vulgarity, players giving each other plaudits and saying their thanks to fans and the manager. Per bringing Lolo to lift the trophy jointly. Just as he did with Arteta at the ’15 FA Cup win.
Everyone in the team played superbly, and showed once again why their manager thinks so highly of them as individual players and as a collective, but Per starting his first game in the season with a makeshift backline in a formation he has never played before in his life put in a breathtaking, towering, resolute performance that should go down in Arsenal history as one of the great acts of leadership on the field. Per’s (and Arteta’s) leadership in the dressing room after they were brought in that disastrous summer have been nothing short of magnificent.
Arsène says this will be the first medal he will keep — as he has always given away his medals to someone or other in the extended Arsenal support team who doesn’t get one. And one suspects that among all his great achievements — of winning trophies, playing breathtaking football, expanding the club’s popularity in the world, helping to build a stadium, nurturing an array of great young talents — this would remain somewhere in the very top of his own list.
And for myself and my five year old this will remain a collective memory to be revisited and cherished for the rest of my life. And hopefully, many more such to come.
typical jocks
say fuck all
then boke here boke there boke every fuckin etc
.
these Irish chavs ?
did ye say temerity to them ?
guess not
that’s our safe word
you’d a been knocked shiteways
horsed away below ground
a fine
sure wouldn’t ye know it
diddley eyedle do session
with king Brian himself
and fed cabbage and bacon
and all the cratur ye desire
.
we are nice
ye plastic paddys
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
(repeat)
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
to be sure
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
add 19 to 17
yeah !
*raspberry*
Afternoon cba.
A bit early for the cratur.
Though doubtless you would disagree ?
I hope you got to watch and enjoy the proceedings yesterday?
‘holic
i chose to stay in the house yesterday
meself and herself
according to her
the right decision was made
i haven’t roared shouted or near shit since 1979
i am hoarse , spent and still on the gargle
.
god bless ye for here sir
and
god bless the shower o shites that drink here
.
#she wore
#she wore
‘cept the scottish
any race of people
ye can’t understand a blind word they say
is up to fuckin something
pal
.
that shower is back tonight
gonna pull the curtains
pretend we’re all off writing books
and drinking songs
honestly
ye can’t pick yer family
Everyone in the bar..and the regulars and ‘holic!
You’re all the bestest there is and was and ever will be.
Up The Arse!
😀
Happy gunner – courtesy Arseblog:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUoURAcll6k/
arselicker
not you 27
that bloody 26
with the niceness an all
honestly
jeez
this place is getting complicated
*flounces off*
mad boxed frogs hashtag
c’mere an give us a big kiss
yadorable big unintelligible lump
.
*puckers*
X’lent report ‘Holic, X’lent result. What a day. COYR’s.
*packs pucker up and pucks off*
?
Not a single mention of the gaffer, Holic?
The boy done good
No, ‘Holic. Thanks for writing. You’ve had a fantastic season.
meh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7iLi07u2BA
This was a great day. We went, not expecting much, and were rewarded with a vintage display of attacking and defensive football. Everyone has praised Per. But all three centrebacks hurled themselves into every challenge. They were all channelling Tony Adams as they put their bodies in the way of shots and passes. Every single man jack did their job and looked totally committed to the cause.
As fans we can ask no more. Even now, 24 hours later I am still glowing with the magnificence of the display. I think it’s a shame that so many of the journalists chose to link it with the future of AW because there is a great and romantic story to be told about the FA Cup Final, Saturday May 27, 2017, at Wembley Stadium. How Arsenal’s top three centre backs and a left back were ruled out. How a man who had played 37 minutes all season turned in one of the performances of his life, even though he was a world cup winner. How a young 21 year old centre back from Bolton visibly grew up before our eyes. How a referee who had previously taken every opportunity to take decisions harsh to Arsenal suddenly grew a pair and made two huge calls (one right one wrong). How our two super stars turned in world class performances. How our Welsh midfielder suddenly reminded us all what a player he is and how much he loves a cup winning goal. How our super sub centre forward laid on the winning goal with a Roy of the Rovers cross with his first touch to said Welshman, leaving the much lauded Kante jogging in his wake. How 28,000 Gooners came, basked in the sun, sang, danced, paid £5 a pint on the concourse (how much???) and stayed in the stadium until the caretaker threw us out. How a man in his late 60s looked so happy as he hugged his players and waved to the faithful, having changed his system for only the second time in 20 years and been rewarded with 9/10 victories at the end of the season. How our young English player with so much talent but so little confidence happily played in a position he had never played before, left wing back, and played his heart out. How our veteran goalkeeper, entitled to get the nod to play, but denied, supported his colleague and was one of the first to run onto the field to hug and congratulate his number two, who made critical saves.
As a Scotsman once said, football eh. Bloody football. They should make a film about yesterday.
What a day, what a team, what a club. I have said in this forum for many weeks I didn’t give a monkey’s about finishing outside the top four as long as we won the Cup.
Well we bloody did. And I was there. And so was my son, now 7/7 at new Wembley.
Sitting in a coffee shop on a quiet Sunday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis, it is such a wonderful privilege to read all your comments about yesterday’s wonderful game. Thank you ‘holic for keeping writing and keeping the place open for all of us. ??♂️⚽️?????????????????????
There was much mirth in 2015 when I queried the definition of a perfect day because it did not involve ex with Michele Pfeiffer. Yesterday was a truly wonderful day and the lovely Michele scarcely entered my thoughts and definitely not my thoughts!
It was for three reasons one particularly personal and trivial to most but Mrs TTG and I. A few weeks ago we took in a young, abused and very traumatised cat , Charlie , who we have tried to restore to health. On Wednesday night Charlie disappeared and after frantic searches we concluded the worst. Then yesterday at a very early hour our neighbour found him stuck in her shed, frightened and covered in engine oil but otherwise well. Rejoicing in the TTG households was unconfined and shook me out of the slough of despond into which I had descended. Then I watched with delight as Exeter Chiefs beat Wasps. As a director of an Exeter business I have watched their remarkable story unfold.
I was nervous at Wembley but found our attitude and fluency uplifting. The useless tactician Wenger found a way of exploiting Conte’s-343 by exploiting the space between the wing backs ( ours are way better) and the back three. Like everyone I worried that we hadn’t made them pay for our dominance and the equaliser was a kick in the guts but the response was electric and perfectly judged and I will always recall the sight of Giroud’s cross floating onto the head of Ramsey.
Frankly a fair score would have been 4 or 5-1 and the arrogance no class Blues would really have been put in their place. I know a personal trainer who is a graceless Chav and I will be gracelessly ridiculing him tomorrow.
Even my two colleagues in the next section leaving me waiting outside section E while they were at Wembley Park failed to sour my mood.
That was a perfect day as I said to a content Charlie on my arrival home.
Lovely report Holic of a special day.
Sorry can’t spell sex. Although Michelle really is an ex nowadays ?
I also meant ‘ hardly entered my thoughts and definitely not my shorts’ but I’m starting to imitate the great CBA now.
Like many of us ttg you may be getting shorter thoughts year upon year. Cats do seem to enjoy a good lie-in in motor oil in my experience too. 😉
Fine report Guvna.
What a day!
Bloody Hell!
What a lunch!
What a performance!
And the team did ‘nae bad’ as well.
Proud to be a Gooner and prouder to be a Holic.
Looking forward to another wee outing for the Charity Shield.
Dom Perignon on ice for all the denizens of this fine establishment.
Sláinte
Great report H on a truly great day.
Geriatrics on the sauce at lunchtime is never an easy thing to deal with. So it was nice to be able to BTM along the outer concourse and to ensure he made it to the correct entrance. Just as well he had Holic with him to look after him.
The security check was interesting. Apparently my compact brolly was not acceptable. It could be dangerous and used as a weapon. 90,000 free flag sticks is perfectly acceptable though???
I thought we pretty much bossed the whole game. Like many, I wasn’t full of expectation on arrival. Totally unfounded in the end. The early goal settled nerves but at half time the talk was about how we should have been 3 up and, I hope it doesn’t come back to bite us.
The Chavs go down to 10 and we concede a soft goal, considering the performance thus far. Minutes later and we are back in front and never to be pulled back.
There was not one weak performance in a red shirt. I can accept that some players may not be as good as others. Want I can’t accept is a lack of fight or effort. I thought that we were outstanding. Holding impresses me more and more each time I see him. Danny, not blessed with natural goal scoring ability worked his socks off all day. Alexis, oh how we will miss him, coveted every blade of grass and big Per? I’ve always been a massive fan of the BFG. A true leader and someone I feel we have missed this year. Per was just outstanding. Young Holding could do a lot worse than to use him as his mentor next season.
Final say goes to Arsene Wenger. The boss has divided opinion this year. Many feel it’s time for change. Thankfully, the vast majority have saved their opinions for the debate in the pub, or in fine establishments like this. The one blight on this season for me has been the insignificant minority who have decided to embarrass our club on a far too regular basis this season. Whatever your opinion of Arsene is, surely he’s has earned the right to be treated with respect. 7 FA Cup wins? More than most clubs have achieved in their entire existence. As much as I wanted to finish in the top 4, if anyone tells you that top 4 is better than an FA Cup final win then you can tell them that they are wrong. From block 511 there was a rousing version of “one Arsene Wenger.” Pleasing to hear after the bollocks he has had to put up with this year.
All in all a great day. Topped off with a great gig, a trip home and MOTD to enjoy it all before calling it a day.
Big love and hugs to you all.
Lovely report, ‘holic, as close to being there as I was ever likely to be. Maybe next year.
Congrats to AW, a sweet moment on which to end a difficult 12 months. Two more years if you must. But hurry up and identify your successor, and some reinforcements before the last day for transfers.
And well done the team, but where the fuck was that commitment when needed half a dozen times earlier in the season?
Thanks for the writeup, Holic. I’m still hoarse after the game. And also thanks for your posts over this and other seasons. Excellent blog in a sea of garbage!
?????
#she wore
#she wore
?????
Steve T
I was in Block 512. The view was pretty similar from there
If I may Id like to reproduce here a piece from the occasional blogger Goodplaya who is almost ( only almost) in the same class as the Guvna in summing up the thoughts of Arsenal fans.
It says everything about Wenger that needs to be said and exactly what Steve T is saying. I WILL NOT go watch my team and abuse him because he doesn’t deserve it. Read this and weep but in the nicest way
Arsenal 2 Chelsea 1
From Goodplaya at Wembley
JUST wow.
There are so many things I could spend a while writing about but really I feel it has to be about Arsene Wenger.
What a monumental act of defiance that was, the conjuring of something that went so emphatically against the grain, that appeared so at odds with the optics. Going into the game, we were, on quite a number of levels, not a club in very good shape. Add to that the sense that when the going gets tough, Arsenal tend to get hammered. Then throw in the quality of the opposition, the fact that they’d have just loved to properly kick us when we’re down and the leaving out of Cech.
And yet. And yet he did it. And in such style.
It was the most magnificent of retorts to so many people, me included. It was two fingers stuck straight in my face and it was absolutely magnificent. Hats off, fair play and all that.
He is a man whose record defies the norms of footballistic scrutiny. I honestly don’t think you can plausibly argue that the league record has been good enough since 2005. We haven’t once mounted a proper league title challenge in 13 years. Forget all the carping about a sense of entitlement, no club of Arsenal’s size and stature would unthinkingly accept that.
And yet, for me it is equally implausible to argue that all those years of Champions League qualification and these three FA cups in four years count for nothing. Winning the FA Cup is amazing. No ifs, no buts, no qualifications. It is, for me, so, so special. It’s not a consolation prize for not winning the league, it is just a wonderful, historic competition that only doesn’t matter to those who don’t get very far in it.
It’s funny how growing older changes us as football fans. I can pinpoint the dates of family occasions in the 1990s simply by cross-referencing them to my encyclopedic memory of Arsenal games at the time and yet nowadays I often can’t remember who we played a month ago. But one great thing I find is that the older I get, the greater the sensation when times are good. The more you realise just how special a moment it is. And so it was yesterday.
There has been a real sense of groundhog day about so much of Arsenal’s recent history. The league campaigns have been pretty similar in many respects. None of them worth more than a sentence or so in any history of the club.
But not yesterday. As we roared the team on, it felt as though we were willing them on to a victory that for so many reasons will warrant far more than a sentence or so in that history book.
Whatever happens over the next few days (and I have genuinely mixed views), yesterday was the day Arsene Wenger reasserted why he is one of the preeminent figures in Arsenal’s 131 year history.
This, on so many levels, was the greatest Arsenal FA Cup final victory I’ve ever seen. A day to truly savour.
Thanks, too, to all the regulars in this bar for their first-hand accounts of Saturday. For all us far-flungs, they bring us a little closer to sharing in one of the truly good days.
Stever T@44: re Per mentoring Holding:
https://youtu.be/vgWEj-RE34g
in an interview obviously done before Saturday.
Morning TTG. Goodplaya speaks well. Good stuff.
It was one of the good days.
Great link Ned. I hadn’t seen that before. I thought both come across impressively. I’ve been impressed with Holding on the pitch. It appears that he has his head firmly screwed on off it. As for big Per? As I’ve said before, I have the utmost respect for him. If he can help Holding develop then I’m sure he will become a better player.
No matter what the result was or what the performance had been like Per was always one of the few who would always make sure he thanked the crowd. I just think he gets it.
I apologize to you mert,you truly were monumental. It was a game we should have won 4-5 goals easy for we were that good. The sense wqs the players wanted to win it for the boss as probably a send off.
Overall a sense of euphoria tears of joy and gratitude.
I think arsene should leave on this high, he wont most likely do that but he should go as the great he is.
Thank you all holics for the season and see you pre season
Yes, what NBN said @49.
I haven’t lived in England since 1995 and the last final
I saw live was in 1993 ! It’s very enjoyable to read about
the day from a fellow gooner’s perspective , remember going to Wembley myself and miss England just a little (I’m afraid I never do otherwise).
Great performance from Mert as many have said. We’ve been lucky
in some ways with our last 2 captains, both Per and Mikel have
conducted themselves well and selflessly at what have been
difficult times for them in their careers. If Per stays another year,
then great and if he goes I wish him all the best in
everything he does.
Mesut was on Twitter taking the piss out of some the ‘experts’
cup final predictions 🙂 I can’t imagine that will help his press
coverage much in future but it’s maybe s a sign of what it meant to
him to prove them wrong. I hope he stays, to me he is one of the
best players I have seen in an Arsenal shirt, he has great vision and
skill and I enjoy watching him play.
Holic, many thanks for all the fine reports this season. Your balance and poise over a full season is truly amazing. Where that performance came from I have no idea but it was a thing of beauty, utterly unexpected by me. Put the “The” back in the Arsenal ! The fans were magnificent. Still leaves questions for me though. I’m not going to gush unambiguously here though like many seem to be doing. I maintain the FA Cup is not the competition or prize it once was, far from it, although it was clearly an awesome day out in London. I’m delighted for all who went and fairly peeved I actually turned down a last minute ticket offer to fly over. But….Why did it take us so long this season to organise ourselves defensively ? Why has it taken us so long to maximize the physicality in our line-up (our team looked big and strong for a change on Saturday) ? Does Saturday not prove that we do indeed have very good players ? Why have we had such trouble handling our two mega stars all year (without whom, well, we simply wouldn’t score any goals) ? More (much more) than enough to question the way the club and team have been (mis)managed in the last few years. Not that it matters. The new contract for 10 mill per annum is done and dusted, any slight dissent at Board level will be quoshed and, very worryingly for me, the bond between owner and manager will be massively strengthened and re-consummated giving complete, 100% local autocracy to the manager. Apologies if this is too soon after Saturday to release a few baby elephants to run around the room. Signing off for the summer, have a good one holics and gooners everywhere. COYG.
SCG@55: Your post about defensive organisation prompts me to think AW persisted with a formation and thus ‘best team’ that depended on Santi being one of the two defensive midfielders long after Santi got injured. Once he realised he didn’t have a Santi substitute, he switched to Ramsey and Xhaka as the pivot in front of a back three. I am not sure that Santi gets into the ‘best team’ when it lines up like that.
What if…
What if Steve Bould was responsible for the shift to back three?
What if, as part of the price for keeping his job, Wenger agrees to shake up his back room staff?
What if one of those who pays the price for all those terrible performances is Steve Bould?
Just a thought.
For anyone interested in a really lengthy report on the match:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2712276-whether-the-end-or-a-new-start-saturday-was-a-masterpiece-for-wenger-arsenal
Ned@56, perfectly valid point regarding Santi. Also another thing that needs to be mentioned is that we did not have a settled central midfield partnership for most of the season. Along with the back three what has been instrumental in regaining our form over the past couple of months has been the settled central midfield partnership of Xhaka-Ramsey. We have tried 10 different central midfield combinations in the league this season and that was crucial to our fortunes. Arsenal boss games when they control the midfield like we did against Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
Per Mertesacker – 127 minutes and 1 trophy
Tottenham Hotspuds – 4,470 minutes and 0 trophies
MERT ….LEGEND!
😀
Huddersfield or Reading?
I suppose Reading is better for the
away support.
I vaguely remember when Huddersfield
were in the 1st division. I had some
stickers with their players in my
little sticker book. Anyway, enough
of my fascinating reminiscing, go
royals.
Both have stadia with capacity of about 24,000 so we’d get about 1200 tickets for the away game. Huddersfield of course have won the league more than Spurs …..
Interesting read
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/may/29/tony-adams-arsenal-arsene-wenger-board?CMP=share_btn_tw
Cazorla-Coquelin to Ramsey-Xhaka.
What a long strange season it has been.
Uddersfield backer here.
Mooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Those buggers picked a weakened team and allowed Birmingham to stay up so I hope Reading wins.
Uddersfield on penalties it is.
Mooy got one 🙂
One of Arsene’s weaknesses is his extreme sense of loyalty to individuals he likes and Bould, I think, falls in that category. So I don’t see Arsene sacrificing Bould just to save his job.
He also has been under tremendous pressure from the fans over the last few months and has probably come to realize how important winning titles/trophies is for the fans rather than just qualify for the CL. My conjecture is that this realization and the threat to his job have forced him to try new things e.g., changing to the 3-4-3 formation that has proven so successful over the last ten games etc. I hope he gets an extension and strengthens the team to take on the big boys and deliver consistently like they did in the cup finals. The football on Saturday was just sublime.
I seem to recall we played (and beat) them in the Cup about six or seven years ago – when did we last play them in the league?
My guess is it’ll be a tough ticket to get (at least 40 credits) due to novelty value. Newcastle and Brighton the other two of course.
Nice one ‘h and we’ll done for yet another top year of bar-tending. Cheers Barkeep! ????????
Me wee lad had the best end of season ever at Wembley. Battering the double-chasing Chavs to our record breaking FA Cup title! Not a bad way to end the term after a season of truly deep disappointments. Now he can’t wait for next season to start, and even with Arsene Wenger for one more year. But, we’ve got to keep both the Worldies in Alexis and Ozil, and add others. League title next year with the kids in the Europa League until the latter stages.
UTAAD&AN!
AFCOF!
Just checked in here for the first time all weekend. Great write ups and comments all round as always.
No tickets so a good dozen Wycombe Gunners of all ages crowded into a mate’s front room for one of the best finals – and Arsenal perfomances – in aeons.
Jumping around like a lunatic with my 10 year old daughter when Rambo scored brought back vivid memories of doing exactly the same thing as a 9 year old with my older brother when Alan Sunderland scored that winner back in ’79.
You cannot buy memories like that.
Tony Adams is rightly a legend at our club as a player and a great captain…hell I walk past his statue on the way to every game!
But Tony Adams is by no means a great coach or manager. In fact he’s been a disaster almost everywhere he’s been . I suspect money is a little tight and another searingly honest autobiography, serialised in the Sun will help to refill the coffers.
But very sadly he is alienating a great manager who stood by him at the most testing time in his life as he evidenced in his ( last) ( searingly honest) autobiography , as well as many of his old team- mates ( I know this from direct conversations on Saturday). People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Wenger may like yes-men , he may have been given ridiculous latitude by a very slack board but to say he can’t coach his way out of a paper bag when you’ve got the record as coach that Tony has is the height of folly.
Adams didn’t attend the final ceremony as Highbury closed ( nor did Merson) . That shows a lack of class and feeling for the club that nurtured you . It’s not just Wenger’s legacy at Arsenal that may be tarnished. Tony is rapidly tarnishing his own.
All he really means with the paper bag comment is that he’s not good at technical stuff or tactics really, and having seen his teams for years it’s hard to disagree.
If you look beyond the emotive wording, which he never used in his book and only became an issue because he said it was a phrase that was discarded, all it is is his opinion, having worked with some great coaches in the likes of Don Howe and George Graham.
Whatever Adams’s own abilities as a coach are, I would suggest he knows the difference between a good coach and a bad one, and in his Guardian piece he does say Wenger is a great manager and that there’s a difference between the two roles.
There certainly appears to be some bitterness there, but I don’t get the impression that it’s deep running stuff, more bafflement that all his time in the game hasn’t been used.
I reckon Adams can coach.
He can’t manage for toffee though.
Manager Arsene Wenger held a crucial meeting with Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke on Monday, at which the Frenchman’s future was expected to be decided.
The outcome is unclear but the decision rests solely with Wenger and Kroenke and will be relayed to directors at a Tuesday board meeting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40088644
How our club is run in two sentences.
NDR, Wycombe? Whereabouts. I lived in Rupert Avenue and attended Priory Road primary from !964-68. ?
GH – What a small world – Sixties a bit too early for me (didn’t arrive in the world until 1970) – I live at the “top of the hill” @ Hazlemere – do know Priory Road well though – had mates who shared a house down there in the late Eighties / early Nineties…scene of a fair few mad parties back then.
Further on in the article Ned references (@74) it says: Wenger is acutely aware of the disruption his departure at such a late stage could cause….
Haha very haha. No mention that he’s had months to announce the decision he said he’d announce in April(?). Just that he’s ‘acutely aware’ of the problems delaying that decision has caused. Well of course he has to stay then. It wouldn’t be fair to Arsenal to leave the club in the lurch now would it!
Give me strength.
You’re still a youngster, NDR, with plenty of time for many more happy Arsenal memories. Watching our first CL Final win, eg.
My own memories go back to the day as an 8yo I was asked what team I supported, and I said Arsenal. The only reason I can remember now was because they’d just won the FA Cup. The year was 1950 and I’ve been a loyal supporter ever since. I even discovered later that while I’ve never lived closer than Stoneleigh in Surrey I have Arsenal DNA with direct antecedents who lived within spitting distance of Dial Square and later Highbury while we played at both.
Now, one of my few remaining ambitions is to live long enough to see that first CL title. Optimistically I reckon I’ve still got 20 years, but I’d appreciate it if they could hurry it up a bit!
Sad to see that some here are still having a dig at AW just after he has delivered our tenth trophy in twenty years. Why on earth would anyone expect AW to make an announcement about the future management of the club? He is an employee of the club and it is the employer’s responsibility to make such an announcement. Our disingenuous media have perpetuated the misconception that AW will announce his own fate all season.
Of all people, Alex Ferguson recently summed up AW’s great strength and integrity this season in particular, in the face of constant undermining from the media and a small but vocal group of “fans”.
I’m hoping Arsene gets at least another two year contract. We need his strength, intelligence, resilience and calm management now more than ever. A change of manager now would be disastrous for the club, imo.
Thanks ‘holic for the excellent coverage throughout the season and the fa cup final day.
the manager and lads know how to manage the nerves during fa cup finals. yesterday I discovered that none of the chelsea starting line up had ever played in an fa cup final. which none of the so called pundits picked up on.
if only our lads had the same know how to get through a whole season. deep down I am sure most of them know they are better than their 5th place. If only they had played as a team during the season.
Anyway hoping for a winning season next year.
Spot on TTG @72. Very sad to see. Superb captain, damaged man.
Also spot on Devon Stu @79. Not AW’s job to announce his future. He made it pretty clear he wanted to stay and clearly believed an announcement would be made in March or April by the Board. It didn’t happen. That’s the Board’s responsibility as would be an explanation of why not. Being a professional, AW did not carp, he got on with the job. Hopefully he will he offered a deal that will encourage him to stay and deliver the big trophies.
Meanwhile our carping ‘fans’ will go on and on. It’s like a cult. Once they’re in that negative rut it’s clearly difficult if not impossible to get out of it. Heaven help Arsene’s ultimate successors.
Wish I’d thought of the prescription
medicine excuse all those years ago.
Read Tony Adams piece, it’s always
sad when old friends fall out. In this
case they’re both Arsenal legends
so it’s sad for most gooners I suppose.
But the simple fact is that AW is paid
to manage and in his judgment Adams
isn’t the best man for a coaching role.
I don’t see that as disrespectful just a
judgment call that any manager has to
make.
In theory yes, bath, but we all know it’s AW who makes the decision whether he goes or stays, and that decision was promised months ago.
I greatly respect the man for all he’s given to the club, and I’m delighted for him that he gets another record to his name with his 7th FA Cup. But recognising what is best for the club after a decade or more of failing to win the Premiership, or advancing far in the CL, doesn’t seem to be his forte. At some point someone has to tell him to go. And to do so before he further damages his legacy would seem a wise course.
On the other hand, if he spends big in the summer and brings in sufficient marquee signings to suggest we’ll be competitive next season at the very highest level, then he can stay with my heartfelt blessing (not that he needs that of course). But with the obvious exceptions his transfer policy has generally been too cautious by far, so I won’t be holding my breath.
I think that Saturday’s game prove that it is application and effort that has often gone missing this season, rather than a lack of ability in our team. If Arsene has failed in any way, it is because our players have been treated like adults, when mollycoddling them like childreninstead would have got us at least into second place.
One great game does not define a trend and or a conviction.
Can Ozil play as much defense for at least half a season?
#78
Cheers Chris – don’t get called a youngster much at 47 !
It was the finals of 78/79/80 and that great team with the Irish core that snagged me as a youngster – and also the influence of an older brother who just about remembers the 71 team. Was actually very lucky in that respect as our father was a Totts man !
Didn’t give my daughter a choice – already on the membership, done the stadium tour (with lunch at Piebury Corner thrown in) and promised her a first match visit next season.
That final has got me so fired up for next season. It was my favourite ever and I’m telling myself that the whole team feels the way I do after proving so many doubters wrong. They didn’t just confound expectations, they blew them away and those dirty complacent Blues were lucky not to leave Wembley on the wrong end of a proper hiding.
Surely they’ll be looking at this performance and the preceding – 7? – wins and saying to themselves, That’s what we’re capable of.
For the first time in years I’m impatient to start the new season. We already have an attacking left back in the bag (I think), we just need:
– Wenger’s signature by the end of today
– Ozil’s and Sanchez’s in the next two weeks
– 2 big / biggish ‘strengthening signings’ in the next month
Well a guy can dream can’t he?
I feel exactly the same, Porco Rosso. If we keep AW and Sanchez and Ozil and we have the new left back in the bag, I don’t think we need much else. With Szchezny back, the whole defence looks strong, up front will look good too, just midfield needs some work. Cazorla, Xhaka, Ramsey, Elneny, Coquelin, the Ox, and Iwobi should all be kept. No idea about Willsher. Just one, maybe two at the most, to strengthen/upgrade in midfield. I’d rather see a promising, creative younger player and not a 40/50 million ” star”, no longer quite good enough for Barca or Real. A few to leave as well.
Tuchel’s left Dortmund. If we don’t snap that guy up we’re bonkers.
Tuchel’s left Dortmund. Interesting timing. Surely not?…
Not if he’s been sacked. If he resigned I’d be wondering if we might actually have had the balls to change our manager.
But there’s no way we have the gumption to do it, he’d have to want to leave and he’s a limpet.
Agree – must be coincidental. Wenger didn’t seem ready to leave on Sat.
David Ornstein just tweeted a verbal agreement is in place for Wenger’s new contract
That’s me done, I think.
*waving*
C’mon, Cynic – it’ll be fine, stick around! We knew he’d sign anyway didn’t we…
And we are still the Arsenal, not the Arsene-all ? Give it one more season?
I hope you’re right, PR. AW is better than Tuchel, all day long.
I’d have preferred AW to go out on
a high with a great cup final win.
What’s done is finally done though
and I hope we can get on with
signing up Ozil and Sanchez then
sort out the rest of the squad as
lots of decisions to be made.
Here’s the tweet in its unadulterated form:
Wenger verbally agreed new 2yr contract with Kroenke at yesterday’s meeting. Will be rubber-stamped by board today & announced tomorrow #AFC
And isn’t Ornstein generally agreed to be well connected and reliable with this sort of stuff?
With you Osaka, but hey if my auntie had bollocks…
We just need Oz and Sanchez tied up, THEN we have the foundation for a good season.
We have a tough year ahead of us, and I think the stability is welcome.
BBC going hard on the contract renewal.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40073103
2yrs. Hopefully to be matched with parallel extensions for Sanchez and Ozil.
If Sanchez and Ozil get 2 year extensions there will be a clause allowing them to leave next Summer if no Champions league the season after.
Nothing is going to change next season. We will still be inconsistent and blow hot and cold.
They are still not preparing for life after 2 years is up so we’ll all be back here again with nothing to show for it.
If he really loved the club he should have prepared to leave after the final.
An utter disgrace if he has indeed been given two more years.?
One year, fine; many would have probably accepted that; But two?! Feckin’ disgrace. ?
He really is a selfish dictator who can’t look beyond his very own personal interests and ego. Hence the statement of “I won’t accept a Director of Football.” Shameless and farcical! Kroenke out!
AFCOF!
Porco – I’ll be back when the title challenge is over and everybody wants him out again
September, probably.
Have fun.
Alexis and Ozil.. that is the real question… will they both extend??
😀
Hopefully we will see the back of the whingers and doom merchants for a while. Their constant negativity and bellyaching was a real pain in the arse last season. No doubt they will reemerge when we lose for the first time next season. I am sure their lack of support for the team, club and manager cost us dearly in February and March, by undermining their confidence. Strange really, having supported the club through thick and thin since 1971, I have never considered booing the players or manager and never will. In fact, that is when true supporters get behind the club and try to raise morale and not undermine it.
Good man, DS. Spot on. One of the problems is that there are few who remember walking into a half empty stadium at Highbury to watch a bottom half of the table team serve up some fairly dire stuff. They think that top four is a bore, is a given and three FA Cups in four years is a dawdle and anybody could do it. (Same crowd who were calling for David Moyes to be appointed not so long ago. The airhead aeronautical brigade). The Wenger years have been a consistent delight.
Porco,
I hear you!
Agree, we need to get Alexis & Ozil
done asap, no summer sagas.
Had enough of that with Vieira,
Cesc, Nasti etc.
But I think not strengthening
the rest of the squad would risk
a repeat of this season. We need
someone on the left and in the
middle up front.
Time to go for Osp, Debuchy, Jenks,
Gibbs, Jack and Yaya at least. We
seem to have a replacement for
Kieran at least and maybe Chesney
back as keeper. But there must be
question marks over the fitness of
Santi and Mert. Lucas hasn’t settled,
although it’s too early to tell to be
fair, and AW doesn’t seem to have
much trust in him so that is another
question mark. Theo is not fitting
the new system so far….Lots to
be done I think!
Devon Stu & BtM,
You’re wrong! Some of us were there with our dad’s and our granddad’s.
The season is now over. Why don’t you just let the whinging and doom-merchanting now commence in earnest amongst those that wish to? It’s their Arsenal Supporting right! Is it not?
However, not to be doomy and
gloomy, the last two PL winners
were 10th and about 16th the
season before so of course we
have a chance and the quality to
win.
Main thing for me is to show more
guts consistently.
Interesting that Tuchel is regarded as the new Messiah! What has he ever won? He inherited a top- quality set-up from Klopp and has still moved further behind Bayern . They were unlucky in the CL with the bomb incident but were some way short of Monaco. He hasn’t achieved the breakthrough that Klopp did .
That doesn’t mean I’m convinced about events at our club. Basically nothing will change and if we lose Sanchez, Ozil or the Ox or all three all hell will break loose. This sounds very Groundhog Dayish to me and affirms that Gazidis is either a windbag or is totally ignored by Kroenke . This squad has potential. Saturday showed that but needs more surgery than Arsene is prepared to undertake. Just look at Citeh and Chelsea’s plans for next season.
I dearly love and respect Arsene but Saturday was the perfect moment to step down. I suspect he can’t contemplate the future without football but that doesn’t mean we should be inextricably linked to how Wenger sees his future life. At the very least the next two year should be partially about succession planning. I’m not sure the Board have a clue and that even if they did Kroenke would listen to them if it didn’t suit his own agenda . Plus ca change is my verdict- in a league where change is the constant .
@OsakaMatt
If they play with the grit, hunger and passion like they did in the FA Cup final, i wouldn’t mind one bit even if we lost.
You are dead right .. we need that level of consistency consistently!
We are definitely capable of putting on a run of good results even with the players we have, although we probably need to add one or two more of Alexis’ caliber to win more than than one trophy a season.
Let’s see if indeed we can add to the team or will we instead lose our key players..
Fingers crossed!
😀
Congrats to the Arsenal, Guv’nor and the Gunnerverse for that resounding performance. In my very short time on earth, I can’t remember feeling proud the way I was after the game even if I only followed proceedings via a dotcom. Would be seeing the game later this evening.
With respect to Wenger, this to me was the best time to leave even though a part of me still wants the relationship to continue. As we may have it, it’d be a ride of some sort come next season.
If anything is clear after Saturday, it is that these crop of players are capable of grandiose devastating all-pants-down master class of football. Sadly they saved it for the “last”.
Whatever Wenger desires to do with the next two years would effectively define him forever. I also feel Arsenal would be getting a double next season, not sure what the double would be.
Thank you fellow drinkers for all manner of drinks from across the globe. I’d try seeing the Arsenal game live next season regardless. I have accepted my fate.
#YaGunnersYa
106 / 107
What BTM said @107 on the whole. The only thing worse than being at top table, is not being at it
Ctd – Bang on the money !
indeed dapper dan
well said
and since
“the right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously”
sunnysiders , let them as is of a notion
fill their boots with gloom
up past their eyebrows
all summer long
and vice versa
Absolutely CBA! Yee mad hatter yee! ?
Is it two years for one to get back into the CL and one to win it? Would it have been just a one-year extension if we’d finished fourth?
*tips mad hat*
?
While it’s true that Wenger, the board and Kroenke’s dithering on a decision has made a non-starter of the idea of him leaving now this close to the next season with no succession plan in place and so much to do in terms of staff and player reorganisation if a new man was to come in, it’s laughable for anyone to suggest that fans not satisfied with the dumpster fire of a season we’ve endured and indeed the several seasons that have preceded it are “airheads” and that these seasons have been anything close to “delightful”.
Just checked on some rivals forums and they’re all celebrating his new contract and urging him to sign before Tuchel’s availability become widely known. Now,not saying Tuchel should replace him but it has been clear what kind of season we can expect from Wenger after years of groundhog days. Nothing significant will change as already pointed to by one source and come next season I can bet anyone we’d be listening to the same story we’ve become accustomed to over the years. Handbrakes and mental strength indeed.
It’s been amazing winning the FA Cup again with a truly outstanding performance to boot but I fear it again papers over the cracks.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I can always till 2020 to see us win the PL again.. No problemo