For a club like Arsenal, going 9 years without a
trophy is ridiculous. If we beat Wigan, we’ll play either Hull City or
Sheffield United in the final, it’s almost too easy. However, straight away, I’m
concerned that we have a home game against West ham three days later. The
Champions League is Wenger’s Holy Grail; I have two conflicting thoughts on the
Wenger era since 2005. Firstly, that no other manager in the world could have
kept Arsenal in the Champions League year after year, but secondly, through his
desire to win this trophy, he has sacrificed Arsenal’s ability to win other
trophies at the altar of this elusive competition.
The manager has already stated that Fabianski
will start in goal, but news that Aaron Ramsey will also start the game, isn’t
necessarily a sign that we will be fielding the strongest team available – he might
feel that Ramsey needs another game in his legs before the real challenge,
finishing forth (again….) I am also suspicious when I read reports that
Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gibbs and Rosicky might be out injured, this starts to look
like a continuation of the Wenger strategy of relegating the FA Cup and
prioritising (pre) qualification for the Champions League.
I would go further; this has been the centre of Wenger’s
seasonal planning and execution for so long, that we have acclimatised to this
approach and accept it far too readily. Have a look at the teams in the Europa
League quarter finals this evening and ask yourself, how many would we beat? I
think three out of the eight. This necessarily shines a highly critical light
on our manager and beggars the question as to what conversations actually take
place between him and the board about targets set at the start of the season?
Does anyone on the board have the backbone to insist that the club’s long
suffering supporters are being asked (yet again) to fork out increasing amounts
of cash for yet another repetition of the last season, and the one before that
and so on….The reality is that not only do we need a new manager, we need to
seriously ask questions of the board and most of all, our absent owner.
This is how a Wigan season ticket holder sees Saturday, Dean Goodfellow has been a regular at the DW Stadium for almost ten years:
"Tomorrow literally depends on which team he
plays, typically he has been making between 4-5 changes a game! The general defence/midfield spine has remained the same
though: Ramis/Boyce at the back, McArthur/Gomez in midfield with McManaman or
Mclean wide and generally alternating games/halves.
Up front I think he will play Fortune (not great) or he could
plump for Powell (on loan) from United as Maynard is cup tied. Powell is a bit
of a glory boy but is an undoubted talent at Championship level (Rosler plays
him as a bit part player, not sure why). He also plays in midfield, supporting the
front man so that could be an option (I would personally put him up front).
Ones to look out for:
·
McManaman or Mclean both wide men with pace in
attack, not scared to run at defenders.
·
Boyce the fans favourite (150% every week)
·
Ramis solid and never panics! Even though he was
about to jump ship twice in January but failed both medicals – he’s doing great for
a crock.
Nevertheless, any Arsenal team should beat Wigan
Athletic. They played brilliantly to win the FA Cup last year, but they were
relegated and sold three of their best footballers. I’d be keen to see Ramsey
play alongside Kim Kallstrom. Wembley is a big pitch, similar to the dimensions
of the pitch at The Emirates. Flamini is suspended; Arteta looks cooked, rest him for Tuesday night and try the
Welshman and the Swede as a holding two, with Ramsey being encouraged to get
forward when he can. He looked fresh when he came on against Everton, the only
bright spot of the afternoon. My feeling is that since Giroud played out that
comedy with that “model” before the away game at Anfield, his form has been in
the khasi, but I would assume that he will feature up front and I would
definitely start young Gnabry, his pace and directness will terrify Wigan. I
also think that this game is nicely set for the recently disappointing Santi
Cazorla. He owes his manager, and us, a game.
So let’s enjoy the afternoon, respect the
occasion and demonstrate to the manager and the board how important the FA Cup
is to us, the supporters, by raising the roof.
By Ian Byrne
Follow me @RightAtTheEnd, and I’ll follow you
back.
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