Wimbledon beat Liverpool in the FA Cup final. Sunderland beat the mighty Leeds in the same game in 1973. Greece won Euro2004. Wrexham beat Arsenal in the FA Cup. Korea beat Italy in the World Cup in 1966. Steaua Bucharest beat Barcelona in the 1986 European Cup final. Sp*rs beat Arsenal 5-1 last night.
My point? Well, it’s that cup football can sometimes throw up the craziest, flukiest results you can possibly imagine, and Sp*rs beating Arsenal 5-1 is right up there with the best of them. And as poxy as it is I’d rather lose to Sp*rs in the Carling Cup than in the league.
I only saw the first half as I was playing a match myself. As I left the house I was cursing because I was sure I was going to miss a great comeback. Yet whatever virgins/goats/newborns were sacrificed in Sp*rs houses pre-game obviously worked because it just didn’t happen. An Adebayor goal was all we had to show for our efforts, such as they were, and it’s a shame we’re going out within touching distance of a Wembley final.
As I didn’t see the second half I don’t particularly want to comment on performances, but based on the first half William Gallas was uncharacteristically poor at the back which seemed to transmit itself to the rest of the team. Going in at half-time two behind is not the end of the world by any means but when you go 3 down just minutes into the second half (I heard that much on the radio on the way to the match) then it’s mission impossible. They obviously had the momentum and once that’s going it’s hard to turn it around. They’re still an awful bunch of cockfisters though, singing that song about Arsene and throwing stuff at Cesc as he tried to take a corner. No amount of goals wins you any amount of class.
Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:
I feel defeat is painful. Overall, I think everything went against us tonight and we were a bit naive. Of course [they were better than us], we have to accept that. I feel sorry for the young players that gave absolutely everything. What is important for us is that we don’t let ourselves get down too much.
There appeared to be dissent amongst the ranks too with Nicklas Bendtner trading words with Adebayor and William Gallas but it is vital that this defeat, painful as it is, is forgotten about and we concentrate on the rest of the season. This cannot be allowed to knock us out of our stride or be used as an excuse. It’s one game, it’s over, it’s shit, but it’s over and done with now. The players must respond and respond professionally.
Realistically the Carling Cup is our 4th priority this season and while it would have been nice to get to the final it’s been beneficial. It has allowed young players to gain experience in tough, pressure matches. As well as that it has allowed Arsene to see some of his young players (and experienced players) perform, or not perform, under those circumstances which obviously helps when he evaluates a player’s future at the club. And I have no doubt Arsene will have learned a few things about some of his players after this game. As he said:
My only regret is playing [some of] the players who played. We go into the season with many targets and every season we go in with that priority in this competition. It is good to see that some players have potential and some are not completely ready yet.
So, disappointing overall but there’s still too much football to be played this season for us to let this affect us. You would hope the players appreciate how disappointing a result this was for the fans and that the best way to make up for it is to get back on track in the next game, which happens to be another cup game (gulp) against Newcastle on Saturday. I’d like to see the full team out for that one so we can get back on track and get them on the back foot before we play them in the league on Tuesday.
In other news Jens Lehmann said he turned down a move to Borussia Dortmund for family reasons. He didn’t want to leave his wife and kids alone in London, nor did he want to uproot them from schools etc for just a few months. Whatever you might think about some of the things he’s said in the last few months you have to respect that, and who knows, he might come up trumps for us between now and the end of the season. Perhaps a Jimmy Glass style winner in the last minute of the Champions League final against Barcelona after Almunia has been taken off with a broken torso having collided with the enormous beast that is Ronaldinho.
Right, that’s about that. I suspect today’s Arses will be busy.
More tomorrow.
