The win was glorious, no doubt.
But like in 2017, we need more.
KSE, as our “esteemed” owner, needs to facilitate more in us to push us to the next level.
Arteta did in eight months that Spurs haven’t in 29 years.We had the chance to build, and we didn’t take it. And now, we can’t afford to make the same mistake.
– Papering over cracks
We were unlucky to lose to Chelsea at home. Though let’s not make our FA Cup win over them mask some bad league showings.
We won and won well at Wembley.
But then we did finish eighth – our lowest league position since 1993. Though incidentally, we won the FA Cup that season too.
Our defence has been poor this season, and there are still many other points around the club that needs correction.
However, we need to see this as a springboard and not rest on our laurels.
Other clubs have gone 29 years without an FA Cup. But then we know better – we know how to win unlike them, and need to build on this so we can win more, win bigger, and win better and more consistently.
The 2017 mistake is that Wenger was not given licence to sign players to boost us. We did get in Laca, and Kolasinac, but we needed a lot more to boost us. Especially as we had lost out on top four and CL football for the first time in 20 years.
In 2020, we’re even lower in the league than 2017, but we need all we can to boost.
A good box to box midfielder, a centre-back, keeping Auba, and better structure are the paramount points. We need to achieve all of our objectives and not just be piecemeal as we were back then.
– Assertiveness and transfer-aggression
Could Thomas Lemar have offered something back in 2017? Either way, we didn’t captialise on the FA Cup that season.
In 2017, we placed an early window bid for Thomas Lemar, and on the last day we placed another bid which Lemar declined.
At the time, and given that Alexis was on his way out, we needed a wide forward. We’d also lost Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool, and Walcott was to join Everton in 2018 winter window.
However, even though Lemar hasn’t shone in Spain, it doesn’t mean that he would not have at Arsenal.
The point is – we need to be more decisive.
Perhaps if we had sold Alexis to Man City or Man United in the summer, got in Lemar and added more than Laca and Kolasinac, who knows what we could have done? it’s ifs and buts of course, and hypotheticals. But then we’re in the position we are in due to poor strategic oversight.
2017 – KSE didn’t put pressure on Wenger to make telling signings.
2020 rectification – KSE must ensure Sanhelli gets in the best signings possible and that we’re properly geared to face the new season. There is a lot of ground to make up with Chelsea, Man United and others who look to be making good signings. Chelsea have Werner and Havertz, and want to replace Kepa. United want Sancho and look like they may get him – though with a good midfielder and CB could push Liverpool/City closer in the league.
With some good signings, we can close the gap, but then it’s up to KSE to ensure we do.
– Cascading bad decisions
Only signing Petr Cech in 2015 was a grave error, leading to our current on the pitch league woes.
In life, what’s done is done, as it cannot be undone. We can learn from the past, and KSE has overseen a decade of poor decisions on and off the pitch.
The Cup win even of 2015 saw this. We were comfortably top four at that point, but then we only got in Petr Cech to replace Szczesny and that was it.
We did finish second that season, granted. And we could not have predicted Leicester’s title win.
However, we had the money and resources, and time, to get in more players and we didn’t. We coasted on our laurels, and that decision among many others cost us up until now.
The FA Cup win, no matter how much we’re reveling in it, cannot be seen isolation.
It should be a positive wake-up call.
It should be a springboard for more reasoned and grounded decision-making.
Of KSE’s holdings, we’ve been the most successful on the pitch lately. the LA Rams reached the Superbowl but lost, and since his purchase of us in 2011 his MLS, NHL, and NBA sides haven’t progressed that much. In some ways, the LA Rams are like Arsenal – a traditional giant in their sport that has lost its way in recent times, though we still have triumphed when they haven’t.
The LA Rams, according to the latest Forbes report, are more valuable (presumably in share equity) than us. But we’re a global club in THE global sport and in some ways we are the primary club in his portfolio.
Our executive team needs to build on our latest FA Cup triumph
The FA Cup win should be the start of something better.
Our structure has changed – with Sanhelli and Edu incoming to streamline things post-Wenger.
Arteta is a modern manager who can adapt to the contemporary footballing climate.
But this isn’t enough.
The Partey bid which A. Madrid rejected didn’t look good, but hopefully, we can come back and get him at the club.
I’m happy we won – I’m sure we all are.
But then we shouldn’t see that nothing is wrong with the club.
We have many issues, but we should turn our win at Wembley into more wins on and off the pitch.
Let’s make it a start to something better, and not rest on our laurels as we did in 2017.
MarbleHallsTV is an Arsenal social media account on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. Been a Gooner since the 90s, inspired by Ian Wright, then Bergkamp, Vieira, Henry, Pires, Campbell, Rosicky, Koscielny, Ozil and Sanchez. A digital marketer/entrpreneur by profession, born in UK living in the Americas now.
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