There were moments last season when I just knew the FA Cup was coming to the Emirates. I didn’t say anything at the time so I can’t prove it, but this is a football blog – an Arsenal blog in fact – and as such I don’t need to prove a damn thing. The moments to which I refer occurred on those wonderful FA Cup matchdays when we beat Spurs and then Liverpool and later on an in form Everton; all strong Premier League teams, all potential banana skins. More than those results however the feeling that last year was our year really came over me on days like the fifth of January when Swansea won at Old Trafford. Also February the fifteenth when the clash of the Oil Men’s Private Trophy Teams saw Man City boot Chelsea out of the tournament. I also experienced a small psychic frisson when Mansour’s little vanity project was unexpectedly put out by Wigan in the following month.

There are certain teams you hope to avoid in the draw, and if those teams aren’t even in the draw then you’d be inhuman not to at least think to yourself, ‘Hello, if we keep our noses clean we could be in here’. Now I know that there are those whose glass is perennially and proverbially in a clichéd half empty condition, and such down at the mouth ne’er do wells will point to the Jacks of Swindon, Wrexham, Bradford and Blackburn and remind us of our experiences at having the beanstalk cut from under us. It of course goes without saying that we will need to do our bit, continuing at Brighton where we left off against Hull but the results yesterday were little short of sensational. Even the teams with nothing except the FA Cup to play for failed to overcome what should have been weaker opposition, both Liverpool and Man United managing to hold Cambridge and Bolton respectively.

So now it’s our turn.

I haven’t had any premonitions this time around. I’m not here as some kind of FA Cup Doris Stokes, in fact I’m only writing this because I was ambushed on Twitter by a geographically challenged George clearly labouring under the delusion that I would be an appropriate choice as I live down south and therefore somewhere near to the venue for today’s fixture. Brighton and Hove presumably having been washed away by the waves of the English Channel and ended up on the mud bound coast of the Severn Estuary. I don’t know how the simple folk of Somersetshire will cope when the Brighton Gay Pride carnival comes to Nether Stowey nor how Norman Cook’s latest live set will go down at The Rose and Crown in Huish Episcopi but I hope Mesut Özil finds his targets better than George can find East Sussex on a map.

Talking of which, Arsène conceded that our flawless Deutscher spielmacher doesn’t like playing on the wing but may begin his rehabilitation out there. It is a mouthwatering prospect to have him and Santi and Alexis in the same squad isn’t it? Add to that Theo easing himself back to full steam, the very, very promising Serge Gnabry returning to fitness and Aaron chomping at the bit to get back into the goal scoring groove he rediscovered just before suffering another injury and you simply have to be optimistic for the second half of the season. Given the teams knocked out yesterday I think we should extend that confidence to the FA Cup. People will be nervous of over confidence and a lower league opponent boosted by the feats of Middlesbrough and Bradford, but don’t panic I’m not taking this or any other away fixture for granted, far from it. In fact I believe the results yesterday and on Friday simply serve as a timely reminder that in a sporting contest anyone can have a bad day; it isn’t science, chance plays far too big a part in football for that.

The unvarnished truth is we are in such great form, so full of confidence and with key players at the very top of their game that we have no reason to fear anybody right now. If the players work as hard as they did at The Etihad they will create the platform for our free scoring forwards to finish the job. Sounds simple when I put it like that doesn’t it? At the time of writing I don’t know who will spear head the attack but I hope it will be Chuba Akpom with Mesut and Campbell either side of him. The youngster has been in such great form he must be desperate to show what he can do and with Wellbeck still out our sexy French pugilist may well be rested for this one.

As for Brighton, I have no personal experience of the place beyond attending a funeral there once. Friend or relative of a friend. Or relative of a friend of a relative. It was back in my drinking days so I’m pretty sketchy on the details to be honest. I played a gig in Littlehampton once but that’s West Sussex so hardly counts. Unless you’re George in which case they’re probably the same place. Oh yes, the Librarian at the college where I work went to university there and is friends with a Brighton coach driver, so there you go. My credentials to comment on all things pertaining to the town and its history are impeccable. As credentials go they’re certainly every bit as impeccable as any football blog’s are to teach anyone about tactics and they’re at that all the time.

In a footballistic context the name of Brighton and Hove Albion conjures, for people of a certain generation, the unforgettable image of Clough and Taylor in green sweaters and shirt collars. For me the greatest thing they ever did while at the helm of the South Coast club was to allow Bruce Bannister and Alan Warboys to share seven goals in an 8 – 2 hammering meted out by my local team in December of 1973. Brian Clough is the only non Arsenal manager I’ve ever had time for and in a move characteristic of the man he went into the Bristol Rovers dressing room that afternoon and congratulated the visitors saying to Alan Warboys that the eye injury he suffered that afternoon must have been self inflicted as the Brighton defence had got nowhere near him. I wasn’t at the game but Brian ‘It’s up for grabs now’ Moore was and I was lucky enough to be allowed to have my dinner on a tray in the front room that Sunday so that I could watch the Big Match. A rare moment of weakness from my otherwise strict Methodist mother.

I’d be happy with a similar scoreline today but I’d also be delighted with a cut and thrust, end to end battle and a one goal margin. It’s the FA Cup after all, it’s all about entertainment and excitement and the plucky little cliché cutting the big man down to size. Let’s just hope Jack has tired of hacking at the beanstalk come four o’clock this afternoon, he has after all had a busy weekend. And while we’re at it let’s hope Liz is as forgiving as my Mum was back in 1973. I’d better finish up now, I’ve got to go and get my tray ready just in case.

A guest post from Muppet  ( @MupetGooner )

If you are not a Wenger supporter, look away now.

Wasn’t it a great win on Sunday ? Superb. Simply superb. For numerous reasons. We beat the premier league champions at their own ground. We ended the 3 year barren run of away wins  against City, Chelsea and Man U.

There was a good news story in Coquelin, who was up against one of the best play-makers in Europe, in Silva, and produced a performance that was quite astonishing given his relative lack of experience at this level.

There was a good news story also in Bellerin, who also looked accomplished at right back, at the tender age of 19.

Cazorla was magnificent, combining mesmerising footwork and gritty resilience to produce a phenomenal performance.

The whole team were disciplined and maintained a shape and organisation that had the pundits stunned, and purring, for Ospina had nothing to do. This is no exaggeration. Souness said he was stunned, so did Carragher.

In the aftermath of the result, we started to hear that “The penny had dropped” for Wenger. This was no “Mourinho tactical masterclass”, heralded after the chavs 1-0 win in February last year. No, this was “the penny had dropped” for Wenger, and he had been taught how to do this by Mourinho, despite Mourinho failing to repeat the trick himself in September, drawing 1-1. The style of the performance was manna sent from heaven for the wobs. The “Bould effect” was attributed to the result, as well as the end of an era of “Wenger Stubbornness”.

It’s a good thing that Arsenal fans are happy. It really is. But the level of delusion in some quarters is worrying. There are those that believe that if you have a good defensive midfielder, sitting in front of the back 4, it is the road to premier league and champions league glory. Just sit that man in front of the back 4, the “Gilberto” screen, inbetween the defenders and the midfield, and he will cause this stunning transformation that will provide untold glory and riches for the team. The same people believe, that in 18 years of qualifying for the champions league, finishing with an average position somewhere in between 2nd and 3rd in the league, that we have never defended, or held an organisational shape. Neither have we beaten big teams. And also, if we are so inept, how did we manage the 19 clean sheets last year, and how did we manage to have the best away form in the premiership in the previous season ? I take it we didn’t have any shape in any of those games ? I also would like to know how Everton, with their favoured 4-1-4-1 formation, didn’t achieve anything during Moyes’s tenure, as after all, he always deployed a gritty DM in front of the back 4.

Then there was the AW failing of not beating the top 4 big teams away from home. The damning graphic would be produced of our recent away form against City, Chelsea and Manchester United – ignoring Liverpool – as we won there in 2012. Also ignored is that AW is the man who ended the 100 year run of an english team going to the San Siro and not achieving a win. This is also the man who became the manager of the first english team to go to the Bernabau and achieve a win. And what glorious wins they were. These were not Stokish, smash and grab raids, having a man on the goal line standing on the goalkeepers shoulders at every corner. These were 2 memorable wins, exemplifying class and pure unadulterated football. This is also a man who went unbeaten in the premiership. A man who has transformed the club into one of the most popular amongst neutrals. And all we hear in the British press is a narrative that is underpinned by ignorance and commercial expediency. The results in Dortmund and Munich away, not seen as achieved against a big team.

We were told at the beginning of the season – look at Martinez and Klopp. Young, dynamic, fresh – exactly what we need. Yep, young, dynamic and at the bottom of the table, or heading that way. We were told that Wenger had committed mistakes in letting Vermaelen, Jenkinson and Sagna go, and not signing replacements. In reality, in came Debuchy, Chambers and Bellerin. Nobody wanted to consider Bellerin. He was too young. Not a serious squad contender. After watching him against City, not only is he under consideration, people are now saying that we don’t need Jenkinson back. So does the manager deserve some credit here ? Does the manager also deserve some credit for pursuing an internal solution with Coquelin ? Does the manager also deserve credit for the Monreal signing and his deployment at Center back as cover – a player who is now looking exceptional. I say yes, yes and yes. This is without even considering the acquisition of Sanchez and Welbeck. Welbeck rates 7 out of 10 for a transfer, but Sanchez is in the stratosphere. £35 million ? What ? I hear you say. If you don’t want to give Wenger credit for that, then well.. words fail me.
Whenever one listens to the press or some of the bloggers on the state of Arsenal, one hears the largely negative narrative, but not a positive one. Of course, it’s hip to be realistic. Be too optimistic, and overrate your players – you’re deluded. Keep it real. Of course, of course. But frankly, there are some amongst us, who believe that we are on the cusp of something special here, can see the vision, and have seen it all along. A long term plan that is being effected at Arsenal. Pay off the stadium loan, grow the commercial revenue and build the squad. The squad building exercise is not a supermarket sweep at Harrods, which we can’t afford. Instead, there are patient acquisitions, internal solutions to problems. There are positions in which we can still strengthen, and will strengthen. Unlike certain other clubs, we don’t have any problems with FFP, and we will be able to spend big in the transfer market.

Even though it is already January, we still haven’t seen a team with Walcott, Ozil, Sanchez, Cazorla and Giroud. Which suggests to me that we’re playing at 80% of our potential. We see City and Chelsea line up with their best players, and wonder one day if that will happen to us. I hope that it will.

A view from the ground from @foreverheady

I enjoyed the game and thought we were properly in charge throughout. The defence looked organised and apart from a spell in the second half when we seemed happy to concede possession, we always seemed in control of the game. I was very impressed with Campbell and felt he made a big impact: the ball seems to find him, and he was often involved. He provided excellent support defensively and his energy level seemed high – Monreal must have thought he was in heaven. Given that it was effectively his first proper match for Arsenal I thought he did well, and I would love to see him play again. There have been better players than him who have been one-footed and as the Tony Adams quote on the wall of the stadium says, “play to your strengths”. He seemed to give us a very different balance and it will be interesting to see how he is used. There is a line of thought that says that that left wing spot has been the hardest to fill effectively: Podolski, Ozil, Cazorla and Wilshere have all played there with varying degrees of success, and not all have embraced the defensive aspect of the role wholeheartedly, so it was good to see him trying so hard: he deservedly got an ovation when he left the pitch. Given the doubts over the fitness of our midfielders I wouldn’t be rushing to send him out on loan, although playing a dozen or so Premier League games for Palace, QPR or WBA would do him no harm at all I guess.

It was a good natured crowd, with a lot of youngsters there, and also a lot of empty seats, although I suspect that the official attendance was high as no doubt it was largely season ticket holders who were absent. Not many Club Level members seemed to have made it, and I can only guess that most were still on the ski slopes or wherever it is they head to over the Christmas holiday. Nice work if you can get it as they say.

And now we enter a period of brief normality with only a game a week for a while which will be very welcome for the players and rather dull for us. But thanks to our warriors yesterday we have the excitement of the Fourth Round draw to look forward to, and that is something to be more than happy about. I rather fancy an away tie at Old Trafford.

So I have just spent literally 10 minutes browsing for some quotes & I came across several quotes from several people at the very very top of football from 2 of the very best players of all time to some of the managers who have achieved exceptional success.

Jupp Heynckes – Feb 2013

“You have to take into consideration Arsenal are competing with Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City. Over the years they have been selling their best players and these other teams get in top world stars, so I don’t think it is fair to blame Arsène Wenger for that,”
“Wenger, is a great coach. You can see his team has a very great dynamic about it”

Pep Guardiola – August 2011

“”We should not forget what Wenger has done for football in general and for Arsenal in particular.”

Pep Guardiola – Febuary 2014

“Arsenal remains a good team and good club. I have a lot of respect for my colleague Arsene: he always likes the good, good players, the good style of football.”

Sir Alex Ferguson – August 2011

“The work he has done in the 15 years he has been at the club is the best in Arsenal’s history.

Sir Alex Ferguson – March 2014

I always enjoy watching Arsène’s sides – Arsenal play the right way.

Jurgen Klopp – Novemeber 2013

‘He is really something. I love him. He is Sir Arsene Wenger.”

Diego Maradona – March 2012

I would love to fulfil my contract and return to renew and be a kind of Arsene Wenger at the Al Wasl.”

Joachim Low – Febuary 2013

“I like Arsene Wenger a lot, because he stays true to his ideas and has been loyal to the same club for such a long time. With him, young players become stars.”

Johan Cruyff – Dec 2012

“Wenger will ALWAYS bring the club back to the top,” “People do not realise the ­achievement of this manager at Arsenal.
“I find it ­incredible that ­Arsenal have stayed at the ­highest level of ­European ­competition and ­England under his management without ever ending up in debt.
“I cannot remember red figures at Arsenal over the last 15 years. How many clubs in Europe can say they have qualified for the Champions League for 16 ­consecutive seasons under the same management? Arsene Wenger has put his life and soul into Arsenal.
“In 15 years, I have not seen him make any ­irresponsible ­purchases in the transfer ­market.
“That is why the work of Arsene Wenger at ­Arsenal is the prime example for every club in ­Europe.
“I cannot even imagine the board or the fans would ever think for a moment of putting Arsene’s position in doubt.”

Bare in mind I deliberately did not include quotes from any former players for Arsenal, even though people such as Bergkamp and Henry’s opinions are much more valid then anyone on twitter, they would immediately get accused of bias. Again this is all in 10 minutes of searching only.

So not only do these people at the very top of the game who understand football more than anyone have all come out with messages of admiration and support of Arsene Wenger in the last few years. Oh crap, I forgot these guys are all wrong and know nothing about football, just like Arsene, so maybe we should get some quotes from the twitter experts instead.

@TraderChris87

Of coure against them there are such colossus  as Le Grove, Durham and Morgan. So if you want to side with them here is what John Cleese has to say on the subject.

Pedantic George (@Blackburngeorge)

I keep hearing this “nine years of failure” .

Now, lets for a moment forget that for many of us the last nine years has been a tremendous success. Perhaps Arsene’s greatest achievement. And run with the nine years shit.

Why nine years?

Why “nine years and only one real trophy”?

Why not one year and one trophy?

Or two years and only one trophy?

Well its simply because that particular snapshot suits the malcontent in their attempts to discredit Arsene.

It wouldn’t be as good if they said “2 trophies in 10 years“.

Or 3 in 11

Or 5 in 13 !

No, they want to pick a start date that suits their stupid notions , while ignoring the stadium move that coincidentally matches their chosen parameters.

For their 9 years , these halfwits demanded world class signings, despite it being obvious to all but the specially stupid, that Arsenal did not have the money to get them. However, now we have some money and world class talent is being bought they still refuse to accept that the wheel has turned.

The very first year Arsene was able to keep his players and add world class, we won a trophy. But no. they cling to the period of austerity while simultaneously refusing to accept its existence. Irony gone mad?

They point to an article in one newspaper that claimed Arsenals wages MIGHT exceed that of Chelsea’s as evidence that we should be on a par with them. Yet when you look at it, just about every player in every position at Chelsea is on far higher wages than his counterpart at Arsenal.(including the manager) so how the hell can our wages be greater than theirs? Its beyond stupidity to think that. Sadly though, these people are all beyond stupid, and accept it gladly.

Another thing that they are happy to ignore is that the squads of Chelsea, City and United cost around twice that of Arsenals. Twice. Did you hear me? I said twice. Yet were are supposed to be on a par because for 2 years we have been able to buy one world class player . They are also happy to ignore that in these last two years they have been buying more than one world class player per year.

In short these “realists”, as they like to call themselves, not only do they completely ignore reality, but they move the goalposts every single time their stupidity is exposed. The goalposts are moving with such pace at the moment that Theo couldn’t keep up with them.

Now the parameters have narrowed to “he hasn’t beaten Jose“. How narrow will they become before these tools shut up and get on with supporting?

NINE YEAR OF FAILURE ??? DO ME A FAVOUR.

I don’t know where to start, so this might be quite a disjointed ramble. It’s supposed to be the season of goodwill, but I’m not feeling it. Not one little bit.

Once again I don’t intend to  give a detailed account of a game you have all seen and who all know enough to form your own opinions of what went right or indeed wrong. So I’ll just give you a feel of how I felt.

Before kickoff I had some good news, Tomas Rosicky was to start. Now, anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge for of the little Mozart. Well he didn’t let me down. He was my man of the match. I thought he and Santi were subline.

Sanchez got MOTM from Alan Smith and at times was unplayable. At other times he was annoying and wasteful. It was clear that Santi was the designated penalty taker and that Alexis pushed him into the shadows and stepped into the limelight. He them proceeded to do an impersonation of Mesut Ozil taking a penalty and rolled the ball to Green. He and Ozil might be our best two players, but neither should be allowed near a penalty kick again. Frankly, it was a pathetic attempt.

Had we gone one up in 7 minutes , the way we were playing, I am convinced the floodgates would have opened and Arsene would have been in a position to make early substitutions and saved some legs for West Ham.

Instead, with only a one goal lead at half time, a moment of utter stupidity in the second minute of the second half, saw Giroud leave the field and the game changed. Now it became more of an even contest and we ended up working hard to the very end.

However, despite the incompetence of the referee in giving a penalty against Debuchy for making an excellent tackle, we won. With 10 men for half the game and some third choice players on the pitch.

Once again despite winning, the usual twitter experts when into meltdown. Moaning that we should have scored double figures and talking bollocks about “in-game management” and poor substitutions.

The thing is that had it been me, I would have left Debuchy at right-back and had Chambers sit slightly in front with Flamini. But that does not mean I think that is what should have been done, I just think thats what I would have done.

It seem to me that no matter what Arsene does, these know-it-alls say he got it wrong. Even if he does what they would have done, they claim he should have done something else.

The bottom line is WE WON. And I cant think of a single player who had a bad game.

Its our job to support the team, not manage it.

Here is an extract from something somewhere on the internet ,written by someone. The full post can be read in the comments section of the previous post at 4:05 pm. I highly recommend that you go back and read it.

“This is the dilemma which Arsenal fans here find themselves in. They are obsessed with Wenger out, board out, and majority shareholder out mentality such that they do not miss the slightest of opportunities to demonize the manager, club and the majority shareholder. That is why most of the criticisms levelled against the team following the Liverpool game were contradictory. For them the objective is to find something to blame the manager for.
The following are the contradictions in the criticisms:

(1) The team should not have set back in the face of Liverpool marauding attacks. But when they did that Liverpool did not have clear cut goal scoring opportunities, when Olivier decided to retain possession by passing to a heavily marked Gibbs possession was lost resulting in a Liverpool goal.
(2) Team did not have counter tactics to deal with Liverpool offensive play. But despite Liverpool dominance the team maintained shape defensively resulting in Liverpool having few chances, is that not a sufficient counter strategy?
(3) Wenger did not have tactics to deal with Lallana, Coutinho, and Sterling. Why is it that Coutinho had to score because of Giroud’s reckless play rather than Liverpool’s superb build up play with the dominance they had?
(4) Wenger made wrong subs in removing Giroud for Francis. So we should have kept an offence player when we needed to defend our lead? Between Olivier, and Danny and Alexis who puts least shift defensively? The same story goes for the replacement of Alexis with Nacho. The club needed to defend what it had. The offensive players had not offered much going forward anyway.
(5) Wenger should have put Walcott in. Really? What is Walcott’s defensive record apart from his pace going forward? Are you not the same people who have been complaining that Campbell was not getting game time? Why complain when he has been given one?
(6) Flamini should have been subbed. Really? The team is defending for dear life and you want your defensive players subbed.
(7) Szczesny was rash to come out when the ball was lobbed behind the defenders. Are you serious? If he had stayed back Sterling would have controlled the ball with no pressure and scored. As it turned out Sterling had to scoop away the ball from Szczesny with his hand because of pressure.

I can go on and on about the contradictions in the criticisms. This clearly shows that it’s more about the agenda than team performance which brings all these reactions. Unfortunately organizations are not run on the basis of irrational reactions by stakeholders but facts. As long as you continue to shun facts for these self serving agendas you will forever remain hurt by decisions that are made by the club. You can go on social media to denigrate the club, and become resident callers and writers to PL fanzone as one Mcbernard (or something like that) from South Africa has been ranting on today’s program, claiming that if he sits on the Arsenal bench the team will do wonders, but that will not change anything. At the end of the day you will become a perennial moaner not only in matters football but in other aspects of your life. Here in Zimbabwe we say an empty vessel makes the most noise so once I start seeing and hearing all those hate filled rants I make my conclusion.

Digest that.”

PS. That reminds me, spare a thought for ZimPaul and is family over the Xmas period. I will be a sad time for them. I miss him and he barely touched my life.