MARTIN KEOWN’S BIG MATCH ANALYSIS
VICTORY WOULD BE THE PERFECT CHANCE FOR WENGER TO BOW OUT
THIS is a defining day for Arsene Wenger at Arsenal Football Club. If he wins, Wenger will have won a record seventh FA Cup against a side that has been utterly dominant this season. Winning the Cup would be the perfect time to bow out, but I think it would reaffirm his belief that he can still do the job. I believe Wenger will stay even if Arsenal lose, but he will have to ask himself some searching questions. It may feel like he would be doing a holding job until another man comes in. The greatest gift Wenger can give to Arsenal is to help identify his successor. The club is like a family business being passed down through the generations. Wenger sees Arsenal as his family and will want to be part of the process to plan for the future.
WHY THE DOUBLE IS SO SPECIAL
EVEN though Chelsea are chasing a Double, all the pressure will be on Arsenal. With the Premier League in the bag, Chelsea will be playing with more freedom. Doing the Double would be a remarkable achievement — just 11 sides have managed it. When I was a young player at Arsenal, the 1971 Double team were the benchmark we were all judged against. Even when we were doing cross-country runs in pre-season, Don Howe would be telling us that the Double winners ran faster! There was a sweet satisfaction when we matched their achievement in 1998. Having done the rounds with the trophy at Wembley, I remember being stopped by George Armstrong — one of the ’71 Double winners — as I was heading off the pitch. George told me to get back out there and savour the occasion as it can pass you by all too quickly. I recall just standing in a goalmouth and taking it all in. I thank George for that — had it not been for his words I would have been in the dressing room and away!
KEEPER SWITCH A BIG CALL ... AND I FEEL SORRY FOR CECH!
WENGER has made a big call by picking David Ospina ahead of Petr Cech — Arsenal’s most experienced player — especially when he has had to make so many changes to his defence. With Per Mertesacker, Wenger may feel he has enough experience at the back, but ideally you want to make as few changes as possible. It will not be easy for Ospina and Mertesacker to come into the team for such a big match. Ospina has not played since the 2-2 draw with Manchester City at the start of April while Mertesacker has just 37 minutes of football under his belt this season. What this does demonstrate is that Wenger has belief in every single player in his squad, but I feel a bit sorry for Cech. He played in the quarter-final and semi-final, so why is he not playing today? THREE STILL THE MAGIC NUMBER FOR ARSENAL LAURENT KOSCIENLY is banned, Gabriel is injured and Shkodran Mustafi is a major doubt but despite the shortage of centre backs I expect Wenger to stick with a back three this evening. The formation has inspired their strong end to the season, winning eight of their last nine matches, so I see little point in changing things. With full backs as wingers, Arsenal have been a much better attacking force as Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez have been allowed to come in off the lines and wreak havoc through the middle. For Arsenal to beat Chelsea, Wenger needs Ozil to be totally committed both with and without the ball and Sanchez to be firing on all cylinders. Even then it will be an uphill struggle for Arsenal. Chelsea are much more settled with this system and will be the fresher team having played 10 fewer games. This will be Chelsea’s 45th game of the season — their fewest in a campaign since 2000-2001. Conte has greater strength in depth, too. Let’s not forget he was able to bring on Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas to win the semi-final against Tottenham — England’s second-best team. My head tells me Chelsea will win 2-1... but my heart says Arsene Wenger could still pull something out of the hat!