Kevin Whitcher
So let me start with a prediction for you. FA Cup Quarter Final v Lincoln. Not the most glamorous of opposition, but Arsenal will categorise this match as a Grade B game so as to lessen the amount they will have to knock off season ticket prices for renewers in the summer. Granted, there won’t be many sales to silver and red members (few of whom will want to pay Arsenal’s Grade B prices to watch non-league opposition) but why worry? There are only 15,000 non season ticket seats in the stadium, mainly in the Clock End lower and upper tiers and Lincoln will take the vast majority of those. Don’t you just love this club? I hope they prove me wrong by doing the right thing and rewarding season ticket holder loyalty. And I would fully expect the supporters organisations that mobilized against the club’s attempt to squeeze more cash out the gold members in the run up to the Barcelona game to take arms again. This is non-league opposition after all.
Which brings us back to last night and the fifth round tie on Sutton’s artificial pitch. This was a no-win for Arsenal. Win by a cricket score and they look like playground bullies. Win narrowly and they have struggled to put away a side four divisions below them. Lose… well come on. We are not talking Bayern Munich level opposition here. The bookies’ odds on a Sutton win of 28-1 looked a bit mean. Unlike Lincoln, Sutton are part-timers. They train twice a week. Their achievement in making it to the last 16 of the cup is laudable, although it should be remembered that they eliminated what was effectively a Leeds youth team at Gander Green Lane in the last round.
And that team selection by the Championship side tells its own story. Compare the financial benefits of an FA Cup Run with the chance of making the Premier League by landing a top six spot and having to beat two other teams come the play offs. Leeds are currently fifth. However, for Arsenal the stakes last night were slightly different. Elimination, regardless of the strength of the team fielded, would have been a humiliation on a scale not even Arsene Wenger has managed to heap on himself before. And that readers, is saying something.
So, accepting the cup rotation policy of goalkeepers which meant David Ospina started, of the fit players, only Bellerin, Ozil and Sanchez would have started this game in place of second stringers. Interesting to see that Gabriel played at right back instead of Rob Holding (who can also apparently play that position). Having been blooded at Bolton, perhaps the thinking was he might be more comfortable in the midst of things if the game became physical. On that note, David Ospina hardly engendered confidence. What price Robert Lewandowski to score from a another header in the second leg of the Bayern tie? One thing that last night confirmed once and for all – David Ospina is not cut out for the physicality of the Premier League.
It took Arsenal a while to get going. Rob Holding told us before the game that Arsenal had done one training session on their own astroturf to get used to the surface they’d be playing on. In fairness, given the physical levels of the two sides, in terms of stamina, I could foresee the Gunners running riot after the hour mark. But Sutton showed they have something about them, not least the ability to frustrate attacks. They defended manfully, and although, once the visitors went a goal up before the half hour mark, the result never really looked in doubt, they at least kept things interesting, and a little more composure in front of goal would have led to greater nerves than were ever apparent.
It was amusing to see captain Theo Walcott (yes, skipper again after that Chelsea debacle last season) completely miss a backheel to give Lucas Perez the opening goal. Theo struggled against Sutton’s defenders, but couldn’t miss the tap in that made it 2-0 after the interval. Well, he could actually, but on this occasion he didn’t.
In the pre-game analysis, when questioned whether he believed Arsene Wenger would be managing Arsenal next season, Martin Keown responded that he thought he would, as the club wouldn’t want to risk him going to a club like Barcelona. If ever the authorities wanted proof positive that heading a football is detrimental to your mental health, there it was. Keown was a spirited, no nonsense defender. But mentally, if he thinks Barcelona would touch Wenger with his record in Europe over the last ten years, his inability to challenge for the Premier League title in the same period, then I genuinely fear what kind of condition the guy will be in by the time he reaches 60. Because he has become embarrassing and delusional. He made Alan Shearer look intelligent last night, for God’s sake.
Anyway, I digress. As I tweeted during the game, there are four certainties in life. 1. Death 2. Taxes 3. Arsenal never winning the Champions League under Arsene Wenger and 4. Granit Xhaka picking up a yellow card. Ok, but against Sutton? You could only laugh.
I loved Sutton’s assistant manager doing an interview with the BBC during the first half – there should be more of this. Why not offer up Bouldie to tell the viewers about his hard week of preparation laying out cones, eh? Football is an entertainment business and let’s face it, Arsenal have become just a bit like a repeat on UK Gold you’ve seen one too many times. However, some of the team were doing their best to keep viewers amused. Ospina playing the ball straight to the feet of a Sutton player about 15 yards outside the area was another first half highlight.
Once Theo had put his team two goals clear, I did fear for Sutton, but they rallied and had a couple of very decent chances to make things interesting, heading over from a corner, and hitting the bar with Ospina rooted to the spot. As insurance, the manager brought on Alexis, which I am sure delighted the home crowd.
So anyway, job done, 12 days off for Arsene Wenger to do an Antonio Conte, get the boys out on the training pitch and work on team organization, defensive solidity, tactics and discipline in the build-up to the game at Anfield. A creature of porcine nature has just sailed past my first floor window as I write.
No matter, with a home draw against Lincoln, you have to fancy Arsenal’s chances of making a semi-final at Wembley. Imagine this though… to win the trophy, what if Arsenal had to beat two of Chelsea or Man Utd, Spurs and Man City. The road to a seventh FA Cup and leaving Arsenal on a high for Arsene Wenger could be a long one.
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