From Brendan : referee
Hi Myles,
But Wenger is right – the red cards given to Szczesny and Van Persie in the Champions League were terrible decisions.
That is all. Enjoy it!
Incidentally, yesterday, Bayern’s president confessed to defrauding the German taxman out of 18 million euros.
From Shubham : FA Cup can start the upcycle for Arsenal
Dear Myles,
After the win against Everton, I felt confident about the FA Cup.
It is the only probable trophy Arsenal can lay hands on this year. So the team management must be setting sights on the semi-inal.
Wigan will be a tough game and will be charged up,having dispatched Man City.
The game will be nervous but I think, Arsenal is better equipped to deal with such things.
This team has far more experienced heads compared to our last version in the Carling Cup final.
Though no team has any divine right to win trophies, I sense this year will bring an end to the proverbial drought,a stat so often highlighted by all and sundry.
Good opportunity for Arsenal to begin an upswing with the same trophy.
From Geoff Cable: The FA Cup is now a MUST WIN
Hi Myles,
Someone made a good point that I think needs to be emphasised.
Arsenal are easily favourites in The Cup vs Wigan, SHeffield United and Hull.
We all know with Wenger’s recent history, that doesn’t mean we’ll win.
They’ll all be keenly aware of relegated Birmingham City’s victory over us in the Capital One Cup, mainly due to much higher motivation levels.
Wenger must get his team fired up and passionate to win this, they must work just as hard or harder then their opponents and not walk on the pitch believing they’ve won it already and just need to turn up to win it.
If they’re complacent, they will lose.
This is Wenger’s best chance in almost a decade to silence those critics (like me, you or Mourinho) who reiterate “Wenger hasn’t won anything in 9 years” which is a stain on his record and legacy.
Can the Wenger apologists at least agree in advance, before this competition continues, that it will be a massive failure of Wenger if he doesn’t win the cup?
Can they agree that winning it is now the minimum expectation with no excuses?
They always seem to apologise for Wenger’s habit for not winning anything post hoc and they like to revise their expectations only after Wenger has lost.
If they will lose they will say “The FA Cup’s not important” or “Wenger didn’t have the budget compared to City or Chelsea” or “Wenger’s building for the future, not for today”
Can they please agree to Wenger’s very reasonable minimum expectation now and not revise it later and agree that Wenger would have failed miserably and disgracefully should he not win the Cup?
Please Wenger apologists, be honest with yourselves! Thank you.
From John Batty : agree – it’s a bridge too far
I think you are right.
Get an early goal and maybe it looks possible.
But Vermaelen at LB against Robben, Lahm and Kroos looks like goals for BM,I’m afraid.