Arsenal FA cup win can be catalyst for change
It was a script many a Hollywood writer would reject, for it seeming a little too unrealistic and far-fetched but Arsenal have won the FA cup despite all the odds stacked against them. Arsenal are now the greatest team in FA cup history, winning it a record 13 times, Arsene Wenger is now also the greatest manager in the cups history also winning it a record 7th time. Oh did I mention Arsenal were captained by the BFG Per Mertesacker who had not started a game all season and had only played 37 minutes before in the last league game of the season against Everton. Mertesacker was a colossus, making block after block and tackle after tackle in a performance that will go down in FA cup finals history.
A BFG Giant of a performance
The match was just incredible, Arsenal saving their finest performance of the year for their biggest game. The whole team just brought it to Chelsea right from the start, an Arsenal team determined to win their fans back, to fight for their boss, to achieve what they were told they could not, was covering every inch of the grass. The early pressure Arsenal put Chelsea under lead to a goal scored by everyone’s favourite Duracell bunny, Alexis Sanchez, as a lucky deflection off him lead to him going through on goal to score a goal thankfully unimpeded by an offside Aaron Ramsey. In a first half dominated by Arsenal’s possession heavy, slick, high energy game, Chelsea were lucky to end it just one behind, with Welbeck, Ozil and Ramsey all comes close.
Boom he does it again
The second half was pretty much the same as the first with Chelsea making changes but still unable to deal with the skill and fight Arsenal produced. In a half that was a bit more end to end as Arsenal tired slightly, the game changing moment was when Victor Moses dived in the box and was sent off with it being a second yellow card on his part. Chelsea although down to 10 men seemed to rally and score but 20 seconds later,…Boom Rambo does it again! He scores a second FA cup final winning goal following a great run by Oliver Giroud, who set him up.
This performance was so eye catching that it left critics stunned and fans in raptures. Some may say why didn’t they play like this the rest of the season. However, the positive point is that, this Arsenal team showed they were capable of a performance so good that even the champions of England could not handle them. Arsenal now have a summer to ensure next season is full of these kind of performances.
One of the best in Europe
We now know that Arsene Wenger will be staying for another 2 years and so this game could well be the catalyst for success in them years, getting the best out of players like Ozil, Xhaka and Ramsey on a regular basis. Another reason Arsenal can use the FA cup final performance, as catalyst is Sead Kolasinac, who will be joining in the summer, he is one of the best wingbacks in Europe right now and will suit this high-octane system down to the ground. With the rampaging Kolasinac on the left, Bellerin or Chamberlain on the right, Arsenal could be a real threat come August. If Arsenal can add just one or two tweaks here and there to the starting line-up for instance a higher calibre mobile striker than Welbeck, the 2017/18 season could really be a good season for everyone associated with the club.
Check out the NEW and improved site here
There are undoubted cracks that cannot be smoothed over, simply with a cup win but, this performance shows, just what Arsenal are capable of when it all does go right and everyone is pulling in the same the direction. As I have said, earlier many players at Arsenal are determined to prove the doubters wrong, wrong about them, wrong about their manager and wrong about their team. The FA cup final could well be the game of which people say that was the day that Arsenal became contenders again.
I got into football as a kid watching Italian football in the afternoons and ever since I’ve been hooked on tactics and the continental side of the game. I’ve written about Italian football in the past among other things but now it’s time to write about, the embodiment of how I see the beautiful game, Arsenal. Hopefully writing things and opinions about the game you haven’t seen before, I like a bit of a joke too.
No comments yet.