Carling Cup Final was not important!! Three points today are….

So there we all were back in February, thrilled that finally Arsenal had got themselves to Wembley for a Cup Final, desperate for us to beat Birmingham and get all the comments about winning a trophy off our back but all the time Wenger thought the Cup didn’t matter, it was not important.

Maybe that is why the team turned up in tracksuits with their ipods, or whatever they have these days, firmly in their ears!

Certainly winning the Carling Cup would have taken a little bit of weight from the shoulders of the players, for me, the Carling Cup in itself is not important. But what it could have given, a little bit of playing with less weight on your shoulders.

I watched, I don’t know 100 Cup finals, I’ve played myself maybe 15 to 20. It’s difficult to imagine you can lose a cup final like that.

If Arsene Wenger spoke about the Carling Cup Final to the squad like he has to afc.com, no wonder we lost!

That day at Wembley was important to all Arsenal Fans but I guess we didn’t matter did we?

On to today:

Diaby is ruled out for today’s fixture and Tomas Rosicky remains a doubt – otherwise we have no changes to the squad that travelled to Bolton.

Paul Scholes isn’t available for the Mancs as he’s suspended, Berbatov is back for them but Fletcher and Hargreaves are out. Giggs won’t feature either as he’s resting his old bones.

We haven’t beaten this lot in the last seven fixtures, surely it’s about time that all changed?

They are not far from securing another Premier League title and we are still a few points short of securing Champions League football for next season so there are two good reasons alone to win this game. Four points from our last four fixtures will be enough to secure a place in the top four and you know who it will probably mean gets the fifth spot.

It’s so wrong though – just a few weeks ago we were second with a really good chance of overtaking our opposition for the title but a string of draws and a stupid defeat last weekend has seen all that hope rapidly disappear.

Let's have a bit of this.....

We need a good show, a few goals and give the home fans something to go home happy about, give all us fans something to be happy about Arsenal today. It’s the penultimate home fixture for this season so we need a win at The Emirates, something we haven’t seen for a few weeks having drawn our last three fixtures at home.

I’m sick and tired of Fergies lot beating us and it has to change. There is no better day than today for that to happen either is there?

They are probably having breakfast as I type, talking about how easy today’s game will be for them, how three points are already in the bag and one hand is on the Premier League Trophy.

Let’s naff them off a bit shall we, dig our heels in make this race go to the final day. Give the Chavs a bit of hope that they could yet pip the Mancs for the title – I can’t stand either of the two so I couldn’t care less who wins in the end.

Today though is about Arsenal securing three points and getting back to winning ways – we still have second place to fight for don’t we?

What about pride in our club, surely the players believe that’s worth fighting for?

Have a good day all…..

231 thoughts on “Carling Cup Final was not important!! Three points today are….

  1. SUGA3 says:

    funny how neither of us gave the team selection a lot of thought, eh?

    and good job I didn’t use that Keown pic – I had this idea, but I simply forgot as I wrote 😆

    great minds and all that…

  2. rico says:

    I never do, i leave that to wenger to pick his golden boys 😉

    thats funny re the picture, what we would give for that kind of ‘never say die’ attitude in our side today..

  3. SUGA3 says:

    seriously, I have been crying out for monsters like MK for the last three seasons…

    there is just one thing that is hard to get and that’s the Arsenal-badge-shaped monster heart!

    I reckon Wilshere and Szczesny have it, Lansbury has it, RvP has it, well, who else?

  4. Steve Palmer says:

    Morning rico,
    Thought I would get in early seeing how I am about to leave for golf.
    I don’t think that these players are at all bothered about the shirts they wear, the cannon on their chests mean little to foreign inports, they are young men who are here to earn big money and I don’t blame them for that. Older supporters that have gone through years and years of believing their club to be the best and having an attachment built inside them of optimism and hope,have more feeling in their little fingers to what these young men feel. I believe it means more to supporters than it does to these young men, we must not believe that they have Arsenal in their blood just because they wear the shirt. Win or lose they will be leaving the ground to night in very expensive vehicles and travelling to their expensive homes knowing full well their bulging bank accounts will continue to bulge, while lots of our supporters will be leaving wondering whether its worth scraping the money together for their tickets next year, maybe they have disappointed me this year but they have a long way to go before I would call them Arsenal Men.

  5. rico says:

    Morning Steve

    I think we have a few coming through, Jack and then Lansbury, JET etc who are pure Arsenal but agree re the current squad (bar jack) who is there apart from maybe Robin who really cares?

    JD and Theo maybe…

  6. rico says:

    😆 SUGA

    That old line of his has worn thin with the fans, he’s soon able to spot the extra long blade of grass or a minute on his watch…..

  7. rico says:

    amband

    i think we have to accept that isn’t going to happen this summer. Stan has just taken over and he has already said nothing will change immediately…

  8. agirlagunner says:

    Boo! Good read, rico. Upbeat when it’s all too easy to be all doomygloomy. 🙂

    I must say there is no “lesser” devil between the Pensioners and the Mancs though… I wish it were possible for no one to be crowned champs. 😉

    Hello, all!

  9. SUGA3 says:

    rico,

    I reckon AW must be told not to dilly-dally with the transfers but to show that we mean business…

    in the ideal world, he would be given until the end of June, maybe mid-July to have a couple of monsters on the books before we embark on that Asian tour…

  10. Mike gunner says:

    For the MU game,I hope Wenger will pack his midfield ie anti soccer and hit on the break.However this runs counter to the Frenchman’s version of the beautiful game which means Arsenal must launch attack after attack.If that’s the case,the gunners will lose unless they played like in the Chelsea game.
    Then the gunners harrass and close every blue and give them no time and space .A return to that sort of game is crucial if the gunners don’t want to lose.
    Btw crowd the bulldog and and other fucking rd and stop them from passing/crossing and shooting.
    Then we shall see.

  11. rico says:

    Agree SUGA, get whoever he is going to get in early, show us and the other players his hand, and give us confidence and belief back that he really wants to win something…

    Then, he can go on holiday and chill out 🙂

  12. SUGA3 says:

    rico,

    with all these Mancs populating the great county of Surrey, he must be at the end of his tether 😆

  13. rico says:

    we only play one way mike, attack attack and pass pass pass, i hope we can get a victory today with a really good showing of ourselves…

  14. rico says:

    Morning Will,

    It’s hard to get up for this game with all lost but we got to get behind them, we have little to lose really as no-one expects us to win…

    he’s always having a dig SUGA, he has been invited to write his own view in a post, funny enough, no response… school holidays and weekends always bring them out 🙂

  15. Will says:

    It is hard Rico because the players don’t seem to get up for it. Why should I raise my heart-rate and blood pressure if they can’t be bothered to raise some effort?

    I fully expect a tonking today.

  16. SUGA3 says:

    rico,

    I have seen his ‘oh-so-die-hard’ comments on other sites, bless him…

    as far as I am concerned, it’s pretty amusing!

  17. rico says:

    It is, he’s talking only to himself.. 🙂

    agag, you watching today or has your boss got you working again??

  18. Will says:

    for the last four games I have said I am not going to get up, did and was left low and disappointed and as Steve said, how many of those players driving in their Aston’s really care that I am low and devastated that MY club has once again let me down.

  19. Will says:

    “I would understand if Cesc leaves,” Sagna was quoted as saying in The News of the World. “He has been here at Arsenal for a long time and he wants to win trophies. As professionals we want to be successful and win cups and titles but we haven’t won a thing for six years.

    “It’s embarrassing to be part of a team that hasn’t won a trophy for six years. We failed. It’s not the manager’s fault, it’s the players’. Some people say Arsene Wenger’s not doing well, but he doesn’t play. We know we are not a bad team. We have the quality to finish first, but we lost. This is the fault of the players – we have failed.”

    Wenger is remaining more upbeat about the future of his prized possession though, claiming the likes of Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri are getting closer to greatness.

    “The team has accumulated a lot of experience despite their age. They are 23 on average now, but football-wise are 26 or 27. I gave them a chance to play at a young age and I don’t regret it.

    “Maybe I could have got some more experienced players, but it is too easy to say that.

    “They are very close [to the title]. We need to strengthen some areas, but we have the quality. At the moment we have to face some scepticism, but we have to keep believing in our strengths. These players all started at a very young age and they should be ready.”

  20. JonJon says:

    ahhh
    good old keown…
    a keown here and a parlour there sprinkled with a touch of rocky and we would be a force to be reckoned with..

  21. JonJon says:

    we wont win today by the way..
    fergies got the number over wenger tactics wise and fergies players do as they are told..

    unless utd have a serious off day we arent winning shit so dont get your hopes up

  22. Will says:

    I fully expect to lose by three or four goals today. That is how far my faith in this team has fallen.

  23. SUGA3 says:

    oh, come on, I am a self-confessed ‘realist’ and I have a good feeling about today!

    mind you, I had this a few times before 😆

    let’s not moan before the game ends (on the clock or effectively), if they cock this up, let there be DooM™, how’s that?

  24. JonJon says:

    a few week back this game was a must win for us to win the title
    now its a must win for chelsea
    thats just a kick in the nuts in itself..

  25. JonJon says:

    well one things for sure if they wipe the floor with us today it puts the final nail in the coffin..

  26. rico says:

    That goodness eh Kt, that would be just awful – i still remember how good it was when Wiltord scored 🙂

  27. rico says:

    He has every right to be, so are we…

    he is right too in some aspects, yes wenger is to blame for not getting us certain laters at certain times during the last few years and his own tactics but, as we all have said, so many of our crop just show no effort at times….

    Had they pulled their socks up in dozen or so games, we could have won this league by now…

  28. JonJon says:

    it seems the team have had a few clear the air meetings and the players are taking the blame also..

  29. agirlagunner says:

    JJ, it’s all well and good to hear that the players are themselves feeling the heat, now to do something about it… 😉 But are they still up for it?, one has to wonder.

    rico, yep, working. 🙁 But I don’t want to miss the game (however possible that we’ll be rubbish again…), so here, multi-tasking. But then again, we women are used to that. 😀

    Hello, KT. Howdy?

  30. SUGA3 says:

    OK peeps, I am off to the beach for a bit, then I will either come back home to watch or go to the pub 😉

    lataz…

  31. JonJon says:

    that appears to be doing the rounds rico..
    yogi mentioned it as well…

    these players owe us a performance today..

  32. rico says:

    It’s what is needed jj, Wenger just needs to make sure he is listening and does something about it – it’s been brewing, we all know that….

  33. rico says:

    I bloody knew it, all the crap about Cesc and today he is rested….

    Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Walcott, Ramsey, Nasri, Van Persie

    Subs: Lehmann, Squillaci, Arshavin, Eboue, Gibbs, Chamakh, Bendtner

  34. rico says:

    Cesc injured, why do i not believe that one bit!!

    Nani is out for the mancs with man flu….

  35. rico says:

    Kt, actually i am having a re-think, maybe we will give a bit more today without cesc….

  36. rico says:

    Hey Santos, good to se you, i am sure that name rings a bell 😉

    jj, i think its after the breakup, the i/v and wengers comments about the pressure he is under…

    but, you could be right too – lets see how we do against the mancs without him….

    Dippers head for 5th place today…

  37. K-TR7 says:

    Could it be that the Don Balon interview angered wenger?mourinho dropped ronaldo after criticizing his style of play.

  38. Santos says:

    Yeah Rico…….. You may have seen the name on another forum,you know. So how optimistic are you about the game today?

  39. rico says:

    we have played bolton since then though kt, i would have thought he would have been dropped for that game…

    jj may be right, see what we like without him, then make his decision whether or not to sell….

  40. rico says:

    I reckon we could sneak a win, they don’t have nani which is good, nor giggs or scholes..

    keep the chick pea and shrek marked out of the game and we could get a result…

  41. Santos says:

    Mind games at its best. Man utd are good at that. Pay them no mind when they say a player is ruled out

  42. rico says:

    Did Evra slap Jack around the head??

    How did Foy not give a free kick against Vidic on Jack, and maybe even a yellow???

    Same old same old bad officials….

  43. rico says:

    Foy is useless, absolutely useless…

    Vidic – foul on Jack, yellow card
    Deliberate hand ball – straight red, or even just a second yellow – OFF

    Rooney – tackle on Jack – yellow card, kicks the ball away, 2nd yellow card -OFF

    Then he tells Foy to F**k off … What do these Mancs have to do to get sent off, they should be down to NINE players now…

  44. agirlagunner says:

    The Mancs are hoping to get lucky on the break, and the match officials are doing their best to hand them the win… Oh, I mean the championship…

  45. rico says:

    Shocking, just bloody shocking, and Vidic would miss the Chav game – if there is ever any justice in this world will we go on and win this game and the chavs win the league…..

  46. K-TR7 says:

    This season alone if vidic wasn’t a manc he would’ve missed about half the fixtures through suspension.

  47. rico says:

    Ramsey has been immense, he’s been so good i don’t think we have even noticed him….

    his passing must be 100% success rate…

  48. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Definitely, the League needs to have non-English referees. Clearly there are teams benefited from successive errors arbitragem.Ontem, the assistant referee validated a goal at a considerable distance, and today no one could see a very clear hand, with penalty and expulsion. I speak more to follow

  49. rico says:

    Vidic in the pen area Will, clear as anything, everyone and i mean everyone saw it bar the officials…

    deliberate too, straight red card offence…

  50. rico says:

    Should never have taken theo off, they are pressing now knowing we have no pace up front…..

  51. rico says:

    Great performance today, absolutely spot on, credit to the boys who played today….

    Now add to this squad Arsene…..

    AA was like a little terrier when he came on 🙂

  52. agirlagunner says:

    Loved how AA was going into tackles. How many did he make?? That’s what we want to see. Players who look interested. 🙂

  53. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Uff, we can not lose points in the last 5 minutes. Regardless of our performance of referrals, etc, we lost several points in the last 5 minutes, and discounts. The League had already finished!

  54. rico says:

    agag, spot on, a bit more of that over the season just gone and we would have sent a few more sides packing…

    Do I dare ask, were we better without our captain??

    Kt, you suggested jack/ramsey would get battered today? They didn’t, not one bit …

  55. rico says:

    Will, for 80 mins we were the better side by a long way… they had an odd few minutes here and there but yes, we deserved our win…

    clichy gave away a clear penalty at the end, Foy didn’t give it though…. justice….

  56. SUGA3 says:

    WOOHOO!!!

    today I have learned the true meaning of watching the game from behind the sofa – literally! 😆

  57. agirlagunner says:

    We were much better, Will. Without being outstanding though… I thought, that we were passpasspassing too much again.

    The Mancs were riding their luck, and they all know it. Plus, come on, that was a blatant handball.

  58. K-TR7 says:

    Rico am glad they proved me wrong.i wasn’t sure about ramsey but he was damn good.we were right about one thing though;we predicted a win and it happened.

  59. agirlagunner says:

    I thought their strikers were pretty useless. Chicha-Who??

    The Mancs’ negative tactics (did they even get a whiff of the ball in the first 15 minutes??) was their undoing.

    The Chavs must be loving us now.

  60. K-TR7 says:

    How the hell are the mancs planning to deal with barca?at one point we had 78% possession against the league leaders.

  61. K-TR7 says:

    What impressed me the most is how well jack and ramsey shared the offensive and defensive load.when cesc plays he doesn’t defend much and since all our play goes through him we become predictable.today we had 2 CMs doing both attacking and defending and as a result we had balance.

  62. rico says:

    SUGA, i have only just got out from behind mine, in fear of fergie time 🙂

    See, I told you all we would win 😉

  63. rico says:

    Arggg, i forgot it was St Totts day too, I bet they are celebrating…

    Dropping into 6th place is a worthy gift for them all 🙂

  64. JonJon says:

    well at least one thing today proved is that we do alot better without denilson and diaby
    we dont need them so they have got no reason to be here next season

  65. JonJon says:

    and first bargain off the season is parker
    westham are gonners lets take that little warrior off there hands..
    cheap as chips too

  66. agirlagunner says:

    What a great goal from Ramsey. Swept in cleanly; cool and composed as you like.

    Cesc’s absence is a puzzler… Hmmm. He was watching though; the cam panned to him several times.

  67. rico says:

    jj, i think there will be many sides in for Parker, he won’t be cheap : Harry wants him too….

  68. SUGA3 says:

    rico,

    I said it was as possible to win all four as lose all four, didn’t I?

    as for today’s game, I like call it the ‘reverse sod’s law’ 😉

  69. rico says:

    Will, i’ll be watching MOTD, or recording it – if Souey and Redknapp praise us the way they did, lets see what the bias Hansen has to say….

  70. agirlagunner says:

    While my favorite French player had a couple of donut moments (not least of which was the penalty that could have well been awarded via the foul on Owen!!!), I thought he did well to keep Nani in his pocket for much of the game. 😀

    I’m a very happy girl.

  71. SUGA3 says:

    rico,

    to save you watching, let me give you the MOTD comment:

    ‘well, Arsenal show that they can do it, but there seems to be something wrong with the level of motivation, the good ol’ grit is lacking…’

    yadda, yadda, yadda 😆

  72. rico says:

    agag, i have tried and tried but i am sorry, i won’t shed a tear if your most favourite frenchman leaves us 🙁

    Any other ref would have given it, it was as bad as eboue against the dippers, Foys muck up with Vidic saved Clicy today…

    And i know you are not keen on Squilli 😉

  73. K-TR7 says:

    I just remembered that there is a rule that comes into effect late in the season that grants players on 5/10 yellows immunity from suspension.

  74. K-TR7 says:

    Jack is really poor in the final third.he made the wrong decisions in counter attacking sitiuations and his shooting has to drastically improve.

  75. rico says:

    Funny enough Kt, i had a headline in my head today during our game…

    ‘Jack is proof that youth doesn’t work’

    Bearing in mind he has been one of our better players this season, it was nothing other than an observation.

    For all his great work on the pitch, when it gets down to the final stages in our move, he often passes to no-one or the oppo or he makes a real hash of his shot..

    Theo did the same, Jack is now following Theo…

    My view is that in England, too much pressure is on them all too soon…. They try too hard and nothing works…

    Time for the FA to stop picking young England players for the first team, let them learn their trade in the under 21’s and let them play with less pressure….

  76. SUGA3 says:

    thing is that there is a bit of truth in that model MOTD comment…

    I can’t believe we threw away the title like that!

  77. rico says:

    SUGA, i missed that one

    ‘well, Arsenal show that they can do it, but there seems to be something wrong with the level of motivation, the good ol’ grit is lacking…’

    Spot on, so true, but what was so different about today, was it as simple as Song having a very good game??

  78. K-TR7 says:

    Ramsey is much better than jack in the final third.he seems to have composure that jack lacks.

  79. rico says:

    Couple of silly tackles again though Kt, if he could get those out of his game he would be so much better but thats being picky. Thought is booking was very harsh, especially when fabio got away with so much…

    The mancs could easily had 3 players sent off today….

  80. K-TR7 says:

    I thought the mancs had leadership,experience,mental strength and were not bottlers?…

  81. Osi says:

    biggest football hypocrisy Song getting suspended for repeatitive fouling and yellow cards accumulation but not vidic and his scotish friend

  82. SUGA3 says:

    rico,

    it was just proper Colosseum shit, and if anyone tells me that the crowd does not react when served caviar…

  83. JonJon says:

    song was back to his best
    man marked rooney out of the game..
    almost kicked fuck out of him as well
    ive missed the old one nils complete with ding dongs against the mancs

    we have gained some pride back today..

  84. Osi says:

    hi rico
    this win is definitely depressing Wenger and his players? they’re thinking of what might have been.

  85. rico says:

    SUGA 😆

    jj, pride was all we asked them to show and finally they di, why oh why though could they not have played like today all season??

    fabio could have gone too, after his yellow he committed a blatent obstruction, second yellow and off – the mancs were luky, they could be going in to nest week without a few key players and the chavs would eat them for breakfast….

  86. rico says:

    Osi, they only have themselves to blame…

    I still believe what happened today was all about Cesc, wenger relies on him too much – look at the beginning of the season when he was missing…

    said before, we need to become a team again, not a group of players who play around one man..

    Today we did that and we got what we deserved…

  87. agirlagunner says:

    KT and Osi, can’t stand the Chavs though. Don’t know what results I want next week. 😉 If only both teams could lose. 😉

    Night, all! Great blogging day, rico. 🙂

  88. rico says:

    Nighty agag and thanks, i hate them both too but, i hope they draw next weekend, then lose all their others and we win all of ours… what happens then ??

    🙂

  89. Osi says:

    Fergie took the ref.World for granted; every decisions especially all 50/50 decisions must go his way! I’d love to see his face if he looses to Chelsea. He’d blame the Ref. for loosing it.

  90. K-TR7 says:

    Its staggering how far ahead we are in terms of technical ability in comparison to the chavs/mancs/northern chavs.we are effin close…

  91. rico says:

    3/4 players away still kt, one win against the mancs doesn’t mean we are suddenly the best…

    i hope wenger doesn’t sit back and think we are – yes, we are close, but by no means close enough….

    we still need a few changes and some new blood in this side…

  92. rico says:

    The perfect ending to the season would be us winning the league, if not us, the chavs..

    Then barca wipe the floor of the mancs in the CL final 🙂

    Mancs end up with nowt….. how i would laugh….

  93. K-TR7 says:

    A word on kos who i must say is becoming our best CB on the floor.it was a delight to watch when 1 second chica was waiting for the ball to reach his feet only for kos to intercept it and lumber away.that guy has a great future ahead of him.

  94. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Owen was off side and no penalty. Theo versus Evra penalty? maybe… but sincerelly, not.
    For me the best player today: Kos.

  95. SUGA3 says:

    rico,

    now, now, one at a time 😉

    but yeah, I prefer for the Chavs to win it rather than Mancs…

  96. Steve Palmer says:

    Evening all,
    I wasn’t expecting a win and am speechless, well done Wenger and the lads, was slagging you off yesterday but love you again today, but tomorrow Who knows???????

  97. K-TR7 says:

    Did you hear what Curbishley said at HT along the lines ‘…i have said all along that Arsenal are the closest team to barca in the PL…’

  98. Steve Palmer says:

    KT if we had lost we would all be losers. always the same, mind you I had my doubts, rico was pretty sure though. but wonder!!!

  99. rico says:

    SUGA, a girl can dream

    I couldn’t single out Kos, i think they put in a great TEAM performance, just what we have been lacking…

    JM, the big shout was Vidic…

    Evening Steve 🙂

  100. rico says:

    I honestly believed we would win for one reason only, ant thats because we raise our game when we play the ‘better’ sides.

    As soon as we play teams lower down in the table, and i include the swampies 😉 we think the game is too easy and we fail to raise our game. This is where wenger steps in, or not sometimes….

  101. K-TR7 says:

    I was also impressed by the fact that in the build up to Ramsey’s goal we had 3 players in the box.its something we don’t do often enough.

  102. rico says:

    Agree Kt and theo ran off from the goal and took two with him, that gave ramsey the space …

  103. rico says:

    I’m off for the day guys/gals – catch up in the morning, enjoy the moment and had a good eveing all…

    nighty night..

  104. K-TR7 says:

    Bale may get the hype but for me theo is invaluable to our team.his crossing has improved but what i like the most is his off the ball movement.today in the build up to ramsey’s goal he made a run that pushed the utd backline backwards creating space for ramsey to score.it was similar to the run he made in 08 creating space for nasri to score against the mancs.in addition to that he pins back defenses which is very helpful tactically in creating space for our midfielders.

  105. K-TR7 says:

    Bale’s hype was generated from his perfomance against inter not even a PL perfomance.

  106. Gooner4life&beyond says:

    Bale winning was a joke, Nasri deserved it more (should have won if he didn’t lose form with injury), but I say Parker or Baines should have won. Both would be welcome at Arsenal.

    Glad we won today, a bit of too little too late for us, but hopefully it restored some bride and belief. Ramsey will be back to being special again I pray.

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