Following our glorious win at Wembley, the salt from opposing fans has been very grand. So much salt that fish and chip shops and Walkers would be happy and well-stocked for a long-time.
Arsenal dominates online chatter most of the time, but we did go into overdrive on Saturday and rightly so.
But there were some interesting “comebacks” from rival fans, some of which I had to note down here.
So per club:
Man United
We’ll see if Ighalo can boost Ole to a first United trophy as manager
“It’s only the FA Cup!”
“Where’s your Champions League next season?”
Well, Ole needs a trophy too. The signing of Fernandes masked a lot and his form boosted United to top four.
But then top four alone is never good enough – Sir Alex Ferguson would never have tolerated this, and it’s something Ole is trying to restore.
They still have the EL of course, but then no guarantee they will win it even if they are favourites.
Getting in the CL is one thing – however, the top four is not a trophy. The irony of United fans, above us, mocking Arsenal fans for years for this and then valuing themselves is sweet and telling of how far they’ve fallen post-Fergie.
A Europa League this season would strengthen Ole’s stock, as another dip in form would raise voices calling for his head.
Note the Glazers/Woodward have made numerous mistakes lately, and even if Sancho is a shoo-in, if they don’t build on it, United won’t progress no matter how well Bruno or Pogba do.
Even last summer, Lukaku left and there was no replacement for him. Maguire and AWB came in, but then United needed more. Expecting the Glazers/Woodward to act differently is wishful thinking at this point.
United also got top four under Mourinho, but it didn’t stop the team’s decline the season after, leading to Mourinho’s sacking in Dec 2018.
Chelsea
Lampard himself conceded that Chelsea didn’t play well enough
“The ref cost us!”
“Arsenal were lucky!!”
“Arsenal had 12 men on the pitch!!”
“It’s the FA Cup – who cares??”
Well, no the ref didn’t cost you.
Yes, Kovacic shouldn’t have been sent off.
However, Chelsea conceded two goals due to bad defending. Chelsea scored and dominated in the early stages.
And Lampard himself admitted that his side didn’t play well – despite him saying the ref had a shocker.
Pulisic got injured, but then whether him staying on would have boosted them is moot.
The ref didn’t make Azpilucueta cause a foul to give a pen to us, which Auba dispatched ably.
And yes, the FA Cup is not as keenly viewed as in previous decades. But Lampard, as arguably a bigger legend at Chelsea than Arteta is at Arsenal, would have made his immediate stamp at Chelsea. Considering few had considered Chelsea for a top-four place, it’s false to say that Chelsea “didn’t care”.
Tottenham
“Arsenal cheated!”
“It’s only the FA Cup!!”
“Woolwich finished eighth!”
“Jose will turn things around!!”
“Arsenal got lucky against City and Chelsea!!”
“Auba isn’t better than Kane!!”
OK….there’s a lot here to digest, analyse and destroy…
How exactly did we cheat? There were some dodgy calls, granted, but over the game we created more and showed more intensity. That’s not cheating.
As for it being “only the FA Cup” this is a trophy Spurs haven’t won since 1991. Spurs fans would kill for trophies, even though they finished higher, we still won what mattered.
Yes, we also finished eighth, but so what? We triumphed. Note Arsenal’s triumph means we’re assured of Europa League Group Stage and Spurs are not. They may well get past the qualifying rounds, but it’s an extra distraction all the same.
Jose could turn things around, but his man-management hasn’t changed. And Spurs won’t have the money he’s used to at United, Chelsea, or Real Madrid. Spurs need a new GK and defence, and with competition in the market, it won’t be easy.
Kane will leave if Spurs don’t improve, no doubt.
We were the better side vs. City and Chelsea, and luck had nothing to do with it. We managed both games well, and despite the alleged power shift, Arsenal has won two trophies since Spurs finished above us continuously since 2017. We’ve also reached the League Cup and Europa League finals, and thus despite their “superiority” have had chances to win things.
Kane has never done this before.
And as for the Auba vs. Kane debate – Auba has got one on Kane, for sure.
World-class players aren’t just consistent – they make telling moments. They contribute to clubs to make the definitive steps to glory. Ronaldo at Man United and Real Madrid did this. Messi has at Barca. Lampard did for Chelsea as a player, and Aguero has for Man City. Kane hasn’t for Spurs, and Auba was definitive in the semi vs. City and the final vs. Chelsea.
Kane could well do this in the future, but Auba has something that Kane doesn’t. A TROPHY in England and being the key player in attaining this trophy. It’s now over to Kane to see what he can do to match this – and individual awards like Golden Boots don’t count.
This is largely facetious, but based on many Twitter and other social media posts I saw over the weekend.
It is true that the FA Cup’s prominence has been relegated in recent years. But then any sport is ultimately about winning – and unlike Tottenham we have strong recent experience of this.
So let’s revel in the win, and let others moan and whine.
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.
Well said. where Kane and Auba are concerned I agree with your assessment of both players but I fear both clubs are going to lose their most fruitful players because neither has the money to keep them happy. After that I think our pool of players is much better than theirs and as far as us being lucky, the only reason they made the EU finals is due to a really, really lucky game against us which they won because of the luck of their defence. Unlike the structured defence we produced against Liverpool and Man City. We were cruising until a momentous decision by Kolosinac and Luiz to gift Song a goal out of nothing at the end of the match cost us 3 points! If I am not mistaken at one time they were 8 points ahead of us and but for the above match, we would have qualified instead of us but they had no chance of winning the FA Cup! Lets just enjoy their struggles through the qualifying rounds while we can be sure that we shall not have to play the lesser clubs.
‘It’s only the FA Cup’…and whose fault is that. Ferguson pulled United out of the competion in 2000 so that United could take part in the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil (in which they were absolutely crap) since which time the FA Cup has become diluted.