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The 3rd Place ‘Cup Final’

Chelsea play-off could be a strange kind of springboard to future glory

18 May, 2013 10:00 23 comments
The 3rd Place ‘Cup Final’

3rd place trophy – Can Arsenal win it?

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Final day of the season. If Arsenal win by a goal (except the 1-0 score line) and Chelsea draw then both teams will be on the same goals scored and same goal difference. According to Premier League rules this will mean that the two teams will have to go into a play-off to determine who is 3rd in the league. It will be a ‘Cup Final’.

So, let’s play the ‘what if’ and why this ‘Cup Final’ would be to Arsenal’s advantage. Fans and players.

If the above results happen then we will get a ‘Cup Final’ arranged. This match can’t be arranged within a few days due to logistics so it will realistically have to be pushed back to the end of May/ beginning of June. It can’t go beyond that because both teams will need to prepare for the summer of luring players using the carrot of guaranteed Champions League football. And Arsene needs to begin the long process of finding some crap Ligue 2 striker.

It would be great for the fans because the Arsenal v Chelsea 3rd Place Play-off will be the final game of the season. It will be on after the FA Cup Final and the Champions League Final. So it will the showcase! We get one more game. One more day out. Sky Sports will lap it up. Imagine the build up? Imagine those montages?! Fat Frank scoring after it ricochets off every player. Rafa looking pensive. Arteta and Cazorla linking passes. Arsene shouting at the 4th official. All for 3rd Place?!

But we can make this ‘Cup Final’ work to our advantage. Why? Because we have a mental block with ‘Cup Finals’. Games where we have to step up make us sick to our stomachs. Big matches make our knees shake. Important games make us jittery. Must win games make us freeze. We’re like first-date material.

But here’s the reason why it would be great for the Arsenal players. The game would be sort of meaningless. Nothing will really be at stake. If we win – great. If we lose – well, who cares. And Arsenal thrive under those conditions. When there’s nothing to play for and the result doesn’t really matter Arsenal truly come alive. Witness our performances against Man Utd at the end of this season and last. We were brilliant. We beat Man City late last season when we didn’t really care. We were the only team to beat Munich in their home ground since 1958, or something, all because the shackles were off and nobody expected us to win. We’re great when we don’t give a toss and this gives us the freedom to play great football.

If we win this ‘Cup Final’ then the spell is broken. We’ll know we can do it. We’ll celebrate it like a ‘Cup Final’ win and the pressure is then off for future ‘Cup Finals’ and even maybe some real Cup Finals. We’ll know how to win those big games.

So it looks like Arsene really does know. Qualifying for the Champions League could be like winning a trophy.

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23
comments

  1. CanadaGooner

    May 19, 2013, 19:04 #34991

    @Petrovic; you must be a robot! 4th place isn't great, but finishing ahead of Spurs (with their player of the year) is definitely worth a few yelps of glee. let's start the inquisitions tomorrow. for today, texting my thumbs sore having a dig at my spurs mates for sure! come on you gooners!!

  2. Petrovic

    May 19, 2013, 18:08 #34988

    .....watching the celebrations for finishing 4th shows the depths at which the club embraces mediocrity! That and being very tacky at the same time! Wish the players would show the same sort of commitment on the pitch when it counts for something......

  3. John Wesley

    May 19, 2013, 8:44 #34980

    Arsenal will gain the victory today,but in reality we shouldn't even be scrapping it out with such low life long ballers as Spurs,we should be up their with our old adversaries Manure when we arn't the Premiership is duller for it.

  4. The Real World

    May 19, 2013, 6:40 #34979

    The only question for me is: How badly do we want the revenue from the extra home game we'll need to play if we finish 4th? What's our average takings for a home game... £4m? Are we willing to risk possible CL elimination (we might get an unkind draw and face off against Malaga or Milan) for the chance at the extra pay day? With this regime, who knows?!

  5. the french accountant

    May 18, 2013, 22:00 #34978

    If there's a trophy to be had my guess is it would be chelsea who'd be really going for it and winning it and not arsenal. Arsene doesn't do trophies he's far too sensible to overuse good saleable assets chasing those short term shiny glittering illusions of success. No he wants to go down in annals of history as the most succesful Manager of finances of all time. A new sky sport stat is coming out. Not % of games won as a manager as in the 60% fergy achieved. No this stat will be which manager has the biggest budget surplus of all time; value of players sold V value of players bought. Win percentages or trophies are fine but not for arsene.

  6. 1971 Gooner

    May 18, 2013, 21:45 #34977

    If Sp*rs didn't exist we'd have to make them up to keep ourselves amused - a nice cosy Italian this evening for them perhaps? We are The Arsenal and anyone who doesn't want us to finish above them needs therapy. COYG! BTW - thanks Kev and your Onlinegooner colleagues for another great season of Arsenal content, take a bow sir.

  7. Carl Rawley

    May 18, 2013, 20:55 #34976

    As I have said before I believe next season could be ours to win either the Premiership or Champions league.I also don't believe we need to sign anyone, they would just get in the way of the current success and squad moral.Also I believe at the moment we have the best squad in Europe by a country mile,two world class players per position.

  8. Winner

    May 18, 2013, 19:48 #34975

    Goid piece! Hope to add the Financial Fair Play trophy, the Balance sheet trophy and the new stadium trophy to all that! Arsene what a manager! Fergie and co know nothing. CL and league titles and FA Cups are rubbish. Give me the Balance sheet trophy any day!!! Can't wait for the Islington town hall parade, where we show off our balance sheet and 4th place virtual trophy! Chelski showing off their Europa League nonsense pfffft. Arsene Knows!!!! CL and PL are too small time for us, we've got bigger trophies to go for!

  9. CanadaGooner

    May 18, 2013, 16:31 #34973

    @ Eion: looks like everyone missed the fact that your article was supposed to be a sarcastic mocking of Wenger and what Arsenal has become. Good piece for sure.

  10. maguiresbridge gooner

    May 18, 2013, 16:23 #34972

    My god Eoin, has there not being enough imaginary trophies over the years ? some real ones would be more in their line,but as we know their not capable of that.But i agree this one would be right up their street,no pressure, nothing to lose, so no doubt we'd play well, show great mental strength,and show that we wanted it more, and win,and you can just imagine the adulation for ogl from all his apologists, and for the players on their lap of honor around Wembley (although villa park has been touted)smaller competitions like the FA cup, and League Cup, would soon be forgotten (although they probably have been a long time ago) this one would be the bees knees the one we've been waiting for,with the spin machine going into melt down with what a great achievement from Arsene and the boys, and even if we didn't win ?, the main objective for the season would still have been reached a win win situation for all concerned, and of course don't forget the extra dough the game/cup final would bring into the coffers another real plus as it would cover the medical bills of this recent injury prone top top quality striker from France we're about to sign.Oh yes sky sports would just love it their getting excited about the prospect already,they would certainly build it into something its not and they've certainly got the personal for the job,even though it would be just another meaningless imaginary trophy.

  11. clown prince of football

    May 18, 2013, 14:13 #34970

    The excitement of fighting for the 4th place trophy with possible added bonus of 3rd place trophy play off just shows you how right OGL is. Where was the excitement with Man U winning the premiership, it was so dull. OGL knows how to give us value for money. Lets hope for 20 more years of 4th place trophies.

  12. Ronster

    May 18, 2013, 14:03 #34969

    Does anyone have a spare box of rotten tomatoes I could throw at that trophy?

  13. CanadaGooner

    May 18, 2013, 13:50 #34968

    Arsenal winning away at Newcastle is less likely than Chelsea thumping Everton 3 - 0! So there isn't any "what ifs" to look at. I'm not sure about the Arsenal result, but I can quite easily tell you now, that Chelsea will not draw Everton. The euphoria of the Europa win will carry them through and they will beat Everton quite convincingly. The more likely DRAW is at white hart lane, where Spurs will show their nerves again, like they did at west ham those years back and this time they will blame the food again (they'll say their chef left out some nutrients). I suspect Arsenal will only get a draw at Newcastle and still finish 4th because of the spurs draw. Now, that's the more likely outcome than the rubbish tv-money led talk of a playoff

  14. reg new

    May 18, 2013, 13:47 #34967

    Surely winning 3rd place trophy is better than winning prem league or other tin pot cups

  15. James

    May 18, 2013, 13:31 #34966

    Chelsea will beat us 5-0.

  16. ppp

    May 18, 2013, 12:15 #34965

    suggesting head to head is daft - it's a league, not a cup. it doesn't matter if chelsea beat us ten nil in both games. if we made up the difference in other matches then thats how a league works. points and goal totals are the only important stats in the league. anyway it won't come to that as both chelsea and tottenham will win their games. it's up to us to win ours.

  17. Jason B

    May 18, 2013, 10:57 #34964

    I couldn't care a less.The fact that it is due to be played at Villa Park makes it even more of a joke than it already is.Shame they can't use the head to head record,which is a lot fairer.After all we've lost both league matches to Chelsea.That is how it should be decided.

  18. Stevesam

    May 18, 2013, 10:53 #34963

    Send the Ladies team, they know how to win a trophy.

  19. Gaz

    May 18, 2013, 10:34 #34962

    Blimey is it April fools day again...

  20. Seven Kings Gooner

    May 18, 2013, 10:27 #34961

    Is this for real - surely your name is Ivan not Eoin. The desperate lengths some people go to to try and make out we are still a proper football club, we died when we left Highbury!! Remember 4th place will bring more Girouds & Gervinhos 5th place might just bring the changes we need to compete again. I shall avoid all the nonsense tomorrow by going to the cinema to watch the latest Star Trek movie - "beam me up Scotty I have had enough of Arsenal for this season"

  21. mark from aylesbury

    May 18, 2013, 10:15 #34960

    I agree the "Accountants Cup" Superbowl playoff finale. Could be the springboard to unlimited success. However I reckon change of manager would get us there quicker. Time for change!

  22. Alsace Lorraine de Totteridge

    May 18, 2013, 8:05 #34959

    I am leaving the country for a week so that I can avoid the tidal wave of AKB euphoria upon their messiah being delivered once more into his beloved Eurobore cashcow. A Third place playoff might be significant for Chelsea not having a manager, since I suspect his contract ends pretty much tomorrow. I would absolutely love it if he told them that he had other things to do. Other than that, a trip to the £700 million new neasden toilet block does not thrill me. Now if it was Cardiff, that would be a bit of fun. Under Mr Wenger , we are forbidden to have hope or fun, so this would be a rarity.

  23. Ron

    May 18, 2013, 7:50 #34958

    Oh, do us a favour will you! Most fans are sick to death of the 4th place Cup without you inventing another Wenger esque trophy ffs! The very idea of a 3rd place play off is pathetic.