REMINDER OF WHY THE FANS ONCE LOVED WENGER
Performance of bullying beauty shows us what Gunners can be under Frenchman
ARSENE WENGER stood on the touchline in his pressed white shirt and his smart red tie and gazed upon a rebirth. For 90 minutes at Wembley, this was Arsenal how we remembered them. This was Arsenal how we had all imagined they would be once again in the best of all possible worlds. This was Arsenal bullying their opponents with beauty.
It felt as though this performance in the FA Cup final was everything that Wenger has been working towards through all the years of being second best to Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City. This was his dream unfolding before disbelieving eyes.
On a day when Wenger wrote his name into the history books by winning English football’s most famous competition for a record seventh time, the Arsenal manager reminded even those who have come to doubt him why they once loved him so much.
This was one of the best Cup finals of recent years, breathless and full of rare skill and Arsenal, depleted to the point of crisis in defence and beset by the protests of their own fans, pulled off one of the competition’s most memorable triumphs. Even in Wenger’s canon of works, this must rate as one of his finest achievements.
So often fragile against the other big teams, Arsenal had not shrunk. They had grown to the point where they were playing like giants. When was the last time we saw them this intense and determined? They did not just outplay Chelsea, they embarrassed them.
Arsenal were magnificent. They made the Premier League champions look mediocre. They gave them a lesson in incisive, passing football and wonderful movement and sharp, clean tackling and dominant defending.
Alexis Sanchez ran the show. Chelsea simply could not get anywhere near him. His goal in the opening minutes should have been ruled out for handball and might have been cancelled for offside, but neither was given. Mesut Ozil did everything his admirers know he can do. He caressed the ball and his opponents into submission. Now and again, he even chased back.
It t ook a bri ll i ant goal- l i ne clearance from Gary Cahill to deny his delicate chip over Thibaut Courtois. Only the clunk of a post denied him what would have been a wonderful goal in t he dyi ng minutes.
Danny Welbeck was bright and lively up front. Chelsea could not cope with him either. He hit the post with a header t hat beat Courtois. He had another effort cleared off the line. Granit Xhaka was rock solid in midfield — and we have not said that often this season.
And Per Mertesacker? He had only played 37 minutes all season, but against Chelsea he was a colossus. Playing at the heart of Arsenal’s nascent back three, he subdued Diego Costa and made several critical challenges.
Sure, it was the FA Cup final. It was not the Champions League final, or the crucial game in a battle to win the Premier League. But Arsenal were playing so well that even the staunchest of the Wenger Out brigade must have felt their hearts fluttering a little.
Even when Costa equalised 14 minutes from time, Arsenal did not crumble, as they have so often before in recent years. This was a different Arsenal. Within t wo minutes, they had taken the lead again, through Aaron Ramsey.
It felt as if everything was falling into place. It felt as if Wenger’s vision was being realised. Even if it was too late to influence anything else this season, it was the kind of display and the kind of spirit that afforded a glimpse of what might yet come to pass under more years of Wenger at the Emirates.
So what now? Does this change anything in the long drawn-out saga of whether Wenger stays or goes? As Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke sat in the stands, a white rose in his lapel, he must have been thinking the club would be mad to get rid of the man he has backed so loyally. Does this win not change anything
for those ingrates who want Wenger out of the club? Does this not suggest to them that the club is still capable of excelling under the greatest manager it has ever had?
In an interview that was aired on the BBC hours before kick- off, Wenger sounded deeply wounded by the way Arsenal supporters have castigated him and his players at various times in the season.
He sounded, too, like a manager who was past caring about whether he burned his bridges with the club’s supporters. Maybe he feels as if those bridges have been en burned already but, if he stays at t the Emirates, the relationship between manager and fans is likely to be more fractious than ever, even after yesterday.
‘I don’t mind criticism because we are in a public job,’ Wenger said i n the i nterview. ‘ But I believe th e r e ’s a di f f e r e nce nc e between being criticised and being ing treated in a way that human beings don’t deserve. The lack of respect from some has been a disgrace and I will never accept that. I will never forg forget it. The behaviour of some peoplepe during the season, that is w what hurts me most. ‘It’s not my person that is hurt butb the impeccable image of the club around the world. That kind of behaviour does not reflect what Arsenal is.’ r eW Wenger showed us again what ArsenalArse is in this Cup final. He showedshow us what Arsenal could be. He has given so much to his club and to English football. Now he has this masterpiece to add to his collection.