Arsenal 4- 0 Aston Villa FA Cup Final: 5.1 conclusions

happy

Two FA winners medal for two straight years for Arsenal players. Who could have thought this when the team was two goal down in the opening 10 minutes of the final game against Hull City last year?

I didn’t. I thought we would just blow our brains again in classic “press the button to blow my brain again..please” style. Thankfully I was proven wrong.

Arsenal’s record FA cup win this year might not mean a lot to a lot of people who don’t follow the club closely, but for most of the fans that do support the north London reds, this is massive; massive in terms of things have really changed in this club..for the better.

The financial difficulties that the club had to endure after moving into the emirates triggered a wave of senior, experienced and important players leaving the club for better/worse pastures home and abroad which directly impacted the way Arsenal performed. Not to mention that the only marquee signing was that little Russian in 2010 and besides that, the fact that nobody pops up on my head right now shows how badly we were doing in the transfer market.

Not now.

1.       Signing of Ozil/Sanchez

When Ozil decided to quite Bernabau and come to the emirates, I seriously thought that ozil was mentally challenged and needed to see a psychiatrist (like most of my friends). When Sanchez followed a year later, I was beginning to think that maybe I was the one who was having mental problems and not them.

Well, it’s rather simple isn’t it? Money speaks and oh boy does it speak. The two signings have worked exceptionally well, with Alexis speed, tenacity and finishing combining well with post-injury ozil’s deft touch and an eye for those sexy defense splitting passes. Both were on their toes on the final, didn’t choke or complain like they (ozil in particular) used to and performed at a level that made us fan jump and scream in multiple orgasms.

Ok I might have taken that sexual reference a bit too far but you get my point.

2.       Emergence of Coq

Having cried out much of the earlier half of the season for a defensive midfielder, the fans were not too happy to see a young, homegrown player appear on the starting lineup on boxing day. Having now seem this lad go through the motions and bring balance and calm to the backline at the end of the season has been the story of the season so far.

3.       Right Back/ Left Back Change

The season started with two well established international full backs making their claim. Gibbs on the left and Debauchy, recently brought in from Newcastle, making his mark on the right flank. As the season progressed, Monreal and young Bellarin quickly settled in and made sure that the two former automatic starters were warming the bench for them.

The competition on the back, especially on the flanks has been a very interesting one indeed. Bellarin’s pace and industrious nature through which he commits to defending and Monreal’s attacking and intelligent, pressing defending has seen them start the final, like most of the games they have been involved in. I am still not convinced that Bellarin is a better player overall to Debauchy, but his pace is something that’s hard for the French first choice right back to contend with.

4.       Carzola

Santi Carzola. Man of the match on the final. What more do you want me to say about him? His ambidexterity on the foot allows him to drift to the right or left or center, cut out any pass at any time, hold the ball as he is supposed to as the holding midfielder and most of all, keep Ozil out of his natural position. What a player.

Needs to work on his finishing but what a player.

5.       Goals coming from everywhere

Arseblog news team recently published a report stating that Arsenal has more goal scorers than any team in the premier league. And how fitting was it that there were four different goal scorers in the final as well? In fact, every goal in the final epitomized how we have been scoring throughout the whole season.

The first from Walcott was a technical, controlled and brilliant finish with shades of Van Persie being painted all over it. A goal that Wenger so desires.

The second was a crazy, outside the box shot that wiggled and turned and twisted and dipped in air leaving Shay given flat on the ass. Over those dreadful years, we never had an emphatic finisher and pop came the Chilean. And never someone who could score outside the box. Things have really changed.

The third was from a corner! Haha set pieces were mostly the most boring stuff to watch. How often this season have our full backs provided that extra bit of attacking nerve to their game?

And the icing on the cake by Giroud, who should have really started but still came on late and gave the scoreline the gloss it needed.

What a game.