Morning, trolololo! The sun is once again out, spring has erupted and my miserable mood has evaporated.
Arsenal are at the seaside today and I can’ wait. Wenger’s injury latest – always much anticipated – tells us that Fabregas is definitely back, Ramsey too, but that Walcott, Sagna & Song may not make the grade. (Don’t even get me started on who might be training next week, or not long after – I fear the mere mention of Players A, B and C might jinx things).
As I said before, at this stage it’s almost not about the personnel on the pitch. It’s about the response, the approach and the attitude. That’s what makes this game so fascinating: there’s been a whole week of behind-closed-doors contemplation, and seeing what comes of it is intriguing.
It’s really do or die now. Utd are ten points clear – a huge psychological barrier – and nothing less than a win will do. Apart from anything else, we need to stop the rot of a five-game streak without a win.
Blackpool, luckily for us, are in a rut of their own, having lost 10 or their 14 games since the turn of the year. So it’s two teams desperate to win, though cleartly for different reasons.
Come on Arsenal. No excuses.
BBC preview
Guardian Squad Sheet
FA Cup or Champions League?
In his impassioned press conference on Friday, Wenger asked:
“Would you swap winning the FA Cup for playing in the Champions League? Is it a trophy or not to be in the Champions League? Is it more important to win the FA Cup?”
Arse 2 Mouse put it on record that he’s prefer an actual trophy, an on balance, I too am of the view that winning a prestigious pot – something that gets a permanent spot on the programme masthead and in the record books – gets the nod. Isn’t that what this is all about?
Trouble is, the Champions League distorts everything. Most obviously, money plays a part – a successful run to the end can make the club £40m – but also prestige comes into play, both for club and player. If you’re not in it, it’s hard to keep big players (though Liverpool’s approach has been interesting: they have offloaded a ‘star’ player and bought heavily with the longer-term in mind). And as Wenger says, it’s also a measure of consistency – 13 years or so unbroken in the Champions League is without doubt a feat of its own.
It’s not an honour but it leads to big European nights, which can in some ways be as defining for a club, in terms of progress, as an FA Cup win.
Maybe I would revise my own opinion if an FA Cup win was followed by fallow years of no European Cup football. I’m sure in fact that I would.
So look, maybe the question is simply too black and white. It’s layered with complications. As some people said when I put it to them as a poll on Twitter, why can’t we have both? Fair enough. I was merely interested to know, if you had to, what you would pick.
Anyway, the results were conclusive [see below]. Very much a case of Platini 1-0 Bernstein. There were about 300 votes but I can’t imagine the 75%-25% split would change much if there had been 3,000.
hi mate,
great poll above. how about a simple one, wenger in or out? is it a case of a minority of very vocal wenger out people getting air-time and wenger in peeps being less vocal about it. wenger out gets headlines, gets media attention but wenger in doesn’t? or is it really a majority of arsenal supporters wanting him out?
personally i am sick of all the criticism levelled at him, he’s not perfect and has his flaws but i still think he’s done a great job for us and i want him to stay. certain players tho really deserve a kick up the backside and i’d be happy to see their backs this summer. i believe wenger knows that too and will do it but he can’t very well say so in public at this time can he?
cheers and coyg!!
I have to say nothing Wenger has ever said or done has annoyed me as much as that press conference. An absolute load of rubbish. I assume the point of it was to inject a siege mentality around the club but all it has done is alienate a huge amount of fans. He’s basically accused all of us of not understanding anything about how the club is run. It’s fcuking offensive to be honest.
And then he says this : “I do as well as I can with the players I have”
That Arsene is the crux of the whole matter. You have done absolutely magnificent work to get us in a position where we can spend more money than we ever have before – if needed. New players are clearly needed in the squad so why are you still working ‘with the players you have’.
We need a big result today or I think the fallout may be horrendous…….
I’m with the majority. I am a big fan of the FA Cup, but winning the FA Cup and not qualifying for the Champions League would be awful!
I thought Lehmann would get a red to go with Jack’s yellow. That was a tough stretch of the match on the old nerves.