Wenger in 7th heaven
RECORD-BREAKING GUNNERS BOSS: I’M STILL THE MAN TO LEAD ARSENAL FA CUP FINAL: ARSENAL 2 CHELSEA 1
ARSENE Wenger made history and then claimed defiantly: I’m still the man to lead Arsenal.
Wenger became the most successful FA Cup manager of all time with his seventh victory, and he handed Arsenal their 13th win in the competition – one more than Manchester United.
Asked if he was the right man for the job, he said: “I believe I am. You cannot have 35 years at the top level if you are not the right man to do
Total, final respect. At times at Wembley, Arsene Wenger was bent double in psychological pain, hands on knees, barely able to look.
Despite the controversial Alexis Sanchez opener, despite seeing Victor Moses dismissed after diving, despite watching Aaron Ramsey’s header make Diego Costa’s equaliser irrelevant, there was probably not one second of this victory he enjoyed.
He should enjoy it now, enjoy the respect that should come with a 10th Arsenal trophy, 16th if you go by Jose Mourinho’s book. Go on holiday and enjoy it. Enjoy how Arsenal deserved this victory, enjoy how he managed to turn a personnel crisis into a personal triumph.
This was a proud moment for a proud man.
He had de-jacketed symbolically early, stripped for yet another tussle with those who believe his reputation is tarnished, those who this managerial statesman considers to have treated him with unforgivable disrespect. Not that he
could brandish his team-sheet with any sort of belligerence.
Circumstances coerced him into the selection of Per Mertesacker, but the David Ospina decision almost smacked of mischievous defiance.
With Cesc Fabregas, imperious in the title run-in, unable to command a starting place for Chelsea, the paper contest looked a walkover.
That does not account for Chelsea starting at a walk.
This is an outstanding Chelsea team, but it is not one that can afford to have any of its moving parts out of sync.
Particularly the perpetuallymoving part that is N’golo Kante.
To see him struggle like this was eye-rubbingly unreal, the treadmill of award-collection clearly taking its toll.
When Antonio Conte (right) has the Champions League front to fight on, there is little no doubt he will need reinforcements.
This was the 14th time he had fielded this starting 11, a luxury the law of professional football averages says is unlikely to be afforded to him next season.
But Arsenal’s firsthalf domination was not driven solely by Kante’s and his comrades’ incompetence and sluggishness.
This was a Wenger team with an unrecognisable intensity.
On one Chelsea attacking occasion, three defenders raced each other to deny Diego Costa.
Mesut Ozil executed a sliding tackle on Eden Hazard. Let me repeat that. Mesut Ozil executed a sliding tackle on Eden Hazard. Granit Xhaka was granite-tough and Danny Welbeck was a persistent, limbwhirring pest. When Arsenal perform like they did here, Wenger’s insistence this group of players has what it takes to emulate Conte’s Chelsea goes from risible to reasonable. That is the thing with Wenger. He appears to be an incurable optimist, he is an incurable optimist. He probably thinks Mertesacker has got a couple more seasons in him. The likeable German’s performance was one of the stories of this peculiar, but hugely enjoyable, contest. It was a lesson in positioning. Wenger, though, if he stays, will need defensive extras.
The remain route now looks likeliest, for sure.
Conte is certainly staying, even if those Inter Milan stories carried emphatic credence.
One specific area he will have to address is upfront, where Costa will be an underestimated loss if he leaves.
After simulation cost Moses a second yellow, Costa stepped up, his deflected finish levelling matters.
Following Ramsey’s immediate response, Costa would only be denied a second equaliser by some Ospina inspiration.
Even though Ospina was limp-wristed for the Costa goal, it was a measure of how much it was Wenger’s day that his reserve keeper could eventually count himself a hero.
Bear in mind a coupe of efforts against the woodwork and a raft of squandered opportunities, nothing about this Arsenal win was undeserved.
It was deserved for its defiance, for its spirit and for its quality.
And now for Wenger, the respect he deserves.
Total respect.