Carling Cup Final: Arsenal v Birmingham; Match Preview
Six years is a short time in the scope of many different things. But for a team and fan base used to winning at least one piece of silverware on a regular basis, six years is a long time in between trophies. When Arsenal take the pitch against Birmingham in the 2011 Carling Cup Final, it will be with one singular purpose – ending that six year silverware drought.
After a long run of promise, Arsene Wenger finally gets the chance to show what his policy of prudence and youth can do. A win and let the vindication begin. Lose and the questions will continue this time probably at a louder din.
Since our last cup win in 2005 and the start of the dismantling of the invincibles, we’ve been told that Arsenal’s young guns were going to deliver. For the last 5+ seasons we’ve had promise only end in failure. But maybe our past successes tainted our expectations of what Wenger was trying to accomplish. Maybe, just maybe on the pitch at Wembley we will begin to see the start of the culmination of Wenger’s vision.
It’s important for Arsenal to win on so many levels. Looking at its impact on this season, a win tomorrow will solidfy in the minds of the players that the are winners. The mentality of a winner cannot be underestimated in the psyche of player. Winning begets more winning. More importantly it forms a picture of positivity in the mind of the player that can sustain them.
For the club a win can propel them on to more glories in this season. Wenger has been chastised for diminishing his focus on this competition. Instead he focused in on the League and the Champion’s League glory always coming up short. Mourinho had the same focus as Wenger but he went for the Carling Cup in ’05 and it was the launching pad for a succesful run for Chelsea that is just ending now. Winning the Carling Cup against Birmingham tomorrow can act as a similar catalyst and have more immediate effect as the Gunners are still in the hunt for three other competitions.
Finally, its important for Arsenal to win because it can prove that a winning team can built from within and with youth as the focus. Arsenal and Wenger have been chastised for the over reliance on youngsters as the core of this team. If Arsenal win it has to serve as validation that the policy works. It also goes along way to supporting the financial vision of the club as well.
So here are at what I hope is the beginning of something really special. So how did we get to Wembley? Let’s take a quick look back at the Carling Cup run:
Tottenham 1 v Arsenal 4: Our opening moment in the cup was a tie against North London rivals Spurs. Beating Spurs in any format is always special beating them on their own ground was more special. Showing a sign of things to come the squad was a fair balance of reserves and first team.
Newcastle 0 v Arsenal 4: Okay so do you remember we actually scored four against the Geordies and didn’t concede another four
Wigan 0 v Arsenal 2: The score seems slight but from top to bottom it was complete control from the Gunners.
Ipswich 1 v Arsenal 0 (1st leg): The only fly in the ointment in their run up to Wembley. A lacklustre performance thatraised some doubts that Arsenal would progress
Ipswich 0 v Arsenal 3 ( 1-3 agg): Well it was dicey for a while but it was finally broken open by a player I criticize a lot – Nicky Bendtner
The Injuries:
Arsenal will be without 3 key players available. Thomas Veraelen hasn’t featured in the run up to the cup and while he seems to be a mere two weeks away from rejoining the squad he is out. More depressing is that Theo Walcott will be unavailable having sprained his ankle in the rugby match against Stoke in the middle of the week. Theo was in tears coming off the pitch. He knew what being injured meant. The lad has had a good season and hopefully the injury is not long-term.
More than that though is the injury to Captain Cesc Fabregas. Maybe more than any person on the team (aside from Van Persie) this final means the most. Pulling up with a thigh injury within 14 minutes of the tie against Stoke, the anguish was all over his fate. On Friday Wenger declared that Fabregas won’t feature in the squad. But mark my words Gunners, I have a feeling Cesc will be on the bench and will sit there as an unused sub. Cesc was an important cog in the run up to the final. He needs and wants to be part of this final. Somehow the club is going to find a way to do it.
So now that I have tried to wax poetic lets look at this is all going to go down and who will feature in each squad:
How the Match Plays Out:
This not a league tie. Its one and done for both sides. Parking the bus is not going to be an option. With the width of Wembley to play on you have to think that it will favour an open match it also is not a place conducive to set pieces which may take out Brum big man Zigich. This in turn favors the Gunners. For me scoring early is the key. If Birmingham manage to either snatch a goal or go into the half drawn, doubt will creep into the Gunners heads. We are the only big side to have gone into St Andrews and control Alex McLeish’s side. Even with the hanky panky of some of their more repugnant players, we controlled the match from the get go and never let the blue and white in it. That is what is needed again and even without Theo and Cesc, I suspect it will work out that way again.
Arsenal Player to Watch:
Samir Nasri. Simply put, next to Van Persie he is the best of the squad this year. He is even better when Cesc Fabregas is not in the squad. Look for him and Van Persie to bring it home.
Project Starting XI:
Broadcasts:
US: FSC 11:00AM EST
UK: BBC 1 1600 GMT
Match Officials:
Referee: Mike Dean
Assistant referees: Ron Ganfield & Mike Mullarkey
Fourth official: Kevin Friend
GAMEDAY CHAT will be open. www.youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 3
Birmingham: 1
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Amazing how few people have posted.
There’s a danger in trying to analyse the game and identify why we lost, by looking for specifics it can mask the macro picture. Ultimately, over this six year period Arsenal fail to deliver on each ocassion that they get close. Simple excuses aside, why is this the case? If we were a young side in 2007 are we still young in 2011 four years later? Arsene Wenger will publicly deflect any such questions – and to a degree that is what you expect. But for all those that love the club you need to muse a little on these things.
Since the break-up of the last successful team we’ve struggled to demonstrate that quality that gets you over the line and makes you THE winner. From the champions league final in 2006, to the league cup final in 2007, to the title race that fizzed in 2008, to yesterdays effort in 2011, all of these disappointing milestones highlight a little lack, a quality that isn’t quite there, we find ways to express it but ultimately its all the same – it’s that mix of both determination and skill that enables a team to find answers that the situation requires and be the winner. Yesterday was a chance to do that – we missed it….again.
There is now much talk of dusting ourselves off and moving on. And in a sense we have little choice. However there is a sense of an empty ring to the exhortation – if we’d won before and this was a blip, then ok. But sadly there is a little pattern happening here and on the major ocassions it looks no closer to being broken.
A day on and we’ve got to deal with the unthinkable….That a trophy, minor as it might be, was served up on a platter and we couldn’t grasp it. Ridiculous, outrageous and pathetic….(And I’m feeling especially bad for our own CaribKid, who made the journey to Mecca to see it all….)
The very heart of our young defense (gulp) created the gaffe that gifted the trophy to Birmingham, but the trouble lies much, much deeper.
Nobody has yet mentioned the absolutely woeful performance of Tomas Rosicky, so I will. All ideas; very, very little execution. With him at the helm, replacing Cesc, we relentlessly failed to settle possession and created an open, up and down game that created a handful of chances for both teams. Both teams struck woodwork and we got our equalizer (at the price of the scorer’s knee?) but their keeper played a blinder while ours, after escaping censure for one in the opening moments, made his first major blunder (no thanks to a skittish, young CB who backed off at the very last–wrong–moment) . In other words, the way we approached the match negated our inherent superiority and turned it into a roll of the the dice. It gave them every opportunity and they took it. McLeish deserves credit for absolutely crushing Wenger in terms of strategy and tactics. (Who expected defensive Birmingham to push forward with such intensity, esp. a goal ahead?)
The question is WHY? (And I know many of the regulars here already know the answer….)
In many ways if we had gone a goal and man down AND then sacrificed Rosicky to bring in Almunia, we might have had at least as good a chance to win it. Between Song and Wilshere doing their Cescy thing and Nasri slowing the game trying to freeze defenders one-on-one, the giveaways and potential counters would have been fewer and our inherent quality would have had a better chance to float to the surface. Two goals (and none conceded) would have been a big ask, but, I think, might’ve been possible….
But that scenario would NEVER have happened (as I’m quite sure that AW would’ve sacrificed WIlshere, assuming that he had years of glory ahead of him)…..
I think AW often pushes positive visions and yesterday’s was for TR7 to be the hero or at least one of the major stars at the fulcrum of our attack. It IS a lovely vision (an adequate backup for Cesc), but, I’m sorry, it backfired massively. As the kids like to say: FAIL! It was as rushed and disjointed an attack as we will (hopefully) ever see, and bad as many feel they are, we would have been much better served (IMO) by starting Diaby (my preference) or Denilson. At least both of those guys would have done the basics rather than trying to live up to a nickname (Mozart) or imitate a player with real vision and talent (Cesc).
We must move on, of course, but we know that the manager will persist with the characters (and visions) at hand….Job one is to sneak past Orient with the B (F?) squad, while hoping Chelsea can take points from United in the league. If they can, maybe we’ll start the (early, inevitably stupid) rushing back of our compromised players: Cesc, Theo, RVP? (and Vermaelen?) and hope we can eke out a win vs Sunderland and somehow maintain a little dignity at the Camp Nou, before eventually floundering at OT in the FA Cup and in our remaining league matches.
It’s not a happy scenario, (and like an idiot I’ll keep “hoping” for the best) but on the plus side, at least yesterday’s result hasn’t raised any false hopes….
@highburyterracesteve, Can’t get the edit feature to work….
Funny that Josh and I would both be posting our “blogs” simultaneously….And interesting that we both lay a lot of it on the manager….
Still, I’m sure we’ll both be dismissed as AKBs, which is really too bad, as I think we’re both actually interested in more nuanced discussion….
My point: Massive frustration is all around (my son counted how many time I said I felt devastated yesterday….he stopped at 20…..) but, if we can’t save the season (Sorry but I don’t think AW reads the YAMA….) couldn’t we at least save the site (or show a modicum of respect for each other….)
Cheers….
@highburyterracesteve,
It’s a shame that 3 years of injury appear to have robbed Tomas of his verve.
well…
yesterday’s result was far from ideal. with the talent arsenal have at their disposal, there is no way they should be losing to birmingham. that’s the beauty of the cup ties; the best team doesn’t always win. perhaps some of our players feel a sense of entltlement simply because they wear the arsenal shirt. they, clearly haven’t earned the right to feel that way.
about a month ago, i mentioned that it was only a matter of time before szczesny would cost us with a mistake. i didn’t say it to sound prophetic but it was a matter of fact. all keepers screw up. while i’m not blaming him for us losing the game, he was at fault for both goals we conceded.
a keeper should never come for a cross that he can’t win. that was his error on the first goal. while zigic may have still scored, szczesny coming off his line meant he had no chance of making a save. for the second goal, it looks like he called for the ball but called late. as a coach, i always teach my defenders to attack the ball in the air. there were other incedents earlier in the game, where i thought szczesny should have claimed the ball but our cb’s cleared it instead. he probably called for those late also. on a straight ball from 70 meters with no birmingham player even trying to get on the ball, he’s got to claim that early. that gets defenders out of his way while putting a body on would-be attacking players in case the keeper fumbles it. i could be wrong but that’s what it looked like to me. if i’m right, i hope we won’t see him err like that again.
i blame wenger for this loss. his substitutions were horrible. a situation developed where both their cb’s were laboring but instead of going for the kill by putting on an additional striker, he took off his best striker. then, instead of taking off the ineffective rosicky, he took off a potential game-winner in arshavin. i like tomas but he gave arsenal absolutely nothing yesterday and wenger should have recognized it wasnt’ going to be his day and gave his team a chance to win by taking him off. i could be wrong but that’s how i perceived the game.
i don’t think this loss condemns arsenal for the season. we have some of the best footballers in the world on this team and we’re still in three different competitions. arsenal simply had one player, who’s been fantastic for us this season, have a bad day making untypical errors that cost us the game. i believe we can bounce back from this. we’ll see.
@joshuad, Sorry to pip your piece here Josh…..And yes, obviously the inexperience at the heart of the defense is/was bound to be laid bare….
As you can see from what I wrote above, I too thought the persistence w/Rosicky (and perhaps even starting him) was misguided) but I think the style of play TR7 engendered had just about killed Arsh, whose fitness is, frankly, what you might expect of an older guy who (I think) hopes to get by w/o working on it. (The shirtswapping after the Stoke match, did Andrey no favors….)
Obviously, the manager didn’t trust Diaby or Denilson enough or his hopes for Tomas were too high. At least the former two will get a shot for the Orient match (I think) given that Ramsey must sit it out. My point: We’ve got numbers in Central MF, but the drop in quality (and faith) in these essential positions is massive and until it develops (because we know we won’t be going into the market to purchase it), our hopes rest on one (or two) very fragile hamstrings, whose DNA already belongs in Catalonia…..
Wish I shared your belief about “bouncing back,” etc….
I can’t say I am surprised.
I expected the team to win… it is against a team not far from relegation in reality… and it was such an important win in so many respects for Wenger, the players, and the Arsenal FC.
As usual, the AKBers are few and far between today…
Can’t blame the breaks or the calls from the ref. Should have given a penalty in the 2nd minute… can’t blame the bounces… they hit the post when they should have scored… can’t blame the pitch… can’t blame the opponents style of play.
Frankly, we aren’t winners.
There aren’t many … if any in this team today.
Birmingham, came to Wembley, and played football today… proper football, and beat us.
So, we’ve beaten Barcelona, drawn against Leyton Orient, and lost to Birmingham in a CUP FINAL.
Yeah, it was a virtual LOCK for most supporters, and especially the Wenger excuse crew.
Dissapointed. Sure.
But I don’t really care about the Carling Cup. It’s a Cup for also rans. And unfortunately, that’s what we’ve become.
Why would Cesc stay for this shit.
The fall-out from a complete collapse in the next few matches will be massive…
Oh well, we’ll just have to settle for the treble :-D
COYG!
Well, that was brutal.
We got a shocking let-off in the first two mins, stuttered, spluttered, then rallied only to commit hari kiri once again.
I foresee a repeat of previous seasons where we throw away our season in the space of two weeks. Mental toughness… thou name is not Arsenal.
Hello……anybody home?
@Kiwi, almost..,
the players change yet the same results and mistakes take place. Either Wenger only picks mistake and injury prone or his squad have an amazing knack of panicking under no pressure. Orient scored an 89th min goal and today Bham. Both could have been prevented yet for no reason whatsoever , gifts were given.
Another thing that does not change is Wenger’s talk about this team’s ability to win and perform.
I think it is best I stop conning myself and accept Arsenal’s role as a bridesmate forever.
This loss also means Wenger’s cup final record is now negative for Arsenal.
Wins — 98,02,03,05 , all F.A cups
losses — Uefa Cup, 01 FA, CL 06, CC 07 and 11.
@Sachin, he had also lost a Cup Winners Cup final with Monaco. So he does carry a losing record at all Euro cups. Ofcourse that can be countered with many coaches who have not won a league title and won’t but can still win a cup. It is no consolation to think McLeish or Bham will never win the league title..nor will Arsene ever until Fergie retires
@Sachin, And Jose does not come back.
Leading up to the game it seemed most football writers accepted the inevitability that this was the hour of this new Arsenal and their quality would see them win their first trophy, albeit the Carling Cup (a trophy some way beneath our status in the game). What would then follow was the emergence of a team that would go forth and multiple (trophy-wise) as pretty promise was capped by on-field success. The doubters and scoffers would be shut-up and the superiority of Arsenals game would have its just reward and be evident to all. I wanted to believe it and so, I’m sure, did most of us.
The reaction to our latest wasted opportunity doesn’t need a lot of foresight. What was Wenger’s public assessment? “The only thing you can guarantee is the quality of the performance and the attitude. That is of course very important for us.” Given a lot of folk are describing this performance as “insipid” (and a lot worse) you can make what you like of Wenger’s spin.
It’s gloomy but In 12 days we could easily be out of all the cups. We’ve got the worst draws looming, with Barcelona at the Nou Camp and Manchester United at Old Trafford both lining up to have a peck at our team carcass.
Fabregas hasn’t had a great season, and yet, as Fred says his importance is enormous. He’s the glue that helps our game have cohesion and he is to us now what Wilshere may become in the future. But he is the now. Take out Fabregas and our game looks more frayed, he has ’time’ in the harried middle that no other Arsenal player can currently make.
Van Persie scored a lovely goal and in the same moment showed us all, again, for the slow of learning, that he is wretched and horribly frail. His latest injury sunk our chances in this match, the way his injuries sink each season. Is it his fault? Does that question even matter?
This match, for me, mirrors Arsenals DNA for the last 6 seasons. So many of the things that frustrate me were in full view before a global audience. I had hoped really really hard that they would put their weakness to bed one and for all. But no, when it matters, we just can’t shake it.
@Kiwi,
Is Van P confirmed injured then? I haven’t heard any reports, that would suck!
This game AGAIN re-affirms (to the doubters anyway) the sheer importance of Fabregas to this team.
Without his passing to cut thru this mess, there is only so much the team can do. And no the likes of Nasri and Wilshere or whoever can “carry” the team and it will be unfair to expect them to.
I guess this is just a small reminder to those that think if Fabregas goes he will be easily replaced. With him playing today, there would have been some top-quality defense slicing passes. That doesnt mean we would have scored them or won … but it would have increased our chances.
That said, that is NOT an excuse for failing to beat Birmingham.
Despite our lackluster performance, the game was there for the taking… until Arsene’s substitutions. He put the right players on, but took the wrong ones off.
What are the odds of the Wenger Babes completely capitulating in the FA cup, CL and league within the next 2 weeks?
@Fred, 3/2
Shit happenss?
@vibe4arsenal,
Haha. Am waiting for the excuse that will be given for this humiliation. They always come up with unique and incredible gems.
The overwhelming feeling I have is.. “meh”
Possible reasons:
a) We’ve bottled it so many times before, it’s no big surprise
b) I’m losing interest and just don’t care anymore
By far and away the biggest regret to me was our performance. Passing was all over the place and led to the first goal, numerous chances for them, increased nervousness in possession for us… The joy’s of watching Arsenal
How we react to this… Well, the next couple of games should tell us all we need to know. Deep down, I reckon most of us expect us to collapse. Hoping for a pleasant surprise…
Other random notes:
-Szczesny’s first massive error (though Kos played his part), hope he is the keeper we all hope and has the fortitude to recover.
-Didn’t really understand the substitutions. Not going to try to understand them in retrospect either.
-Ben Foster played a blinder. Well done to him.
-Was quite a clean game overall. Fair play to the bastards for pulling out a win.
@OziKenyan,
Re: Chesny: Well, it is hard to hold the ball, when your CB is trying to kick it out of your hands and stumbling all over you.
Koz could clearly see that everyone was in front of him, yet he had to go commit a Clichy/Fabianski style brain freeze.
As someone said, there are several bombs in the team … waiting patiently to rotationally go off and cripple the team.
PS: This is B’ham second trophy in their entire history. The first since 1963. Most Bham fans dont even know what a trophy looks like.
We are the gift that keeps on giving.
@Fred, these arsenal players also don’t know what a trophy is like and will never if they stay. Arsenal fans have also started the long journey towards forgetting what a trophy looks like.
Poor CK!!
There goes our season …
If we cant win THIS competition against this sort of opponent, then clearly we dont have the mental fortitude to win even the FA cup let alone the really big stuff like CL or EPL.
Losing to Birmingham for f*cks sake. Once again, the team shames its fans.
I’m waiting for the excuses from the usual crowd.
I may never recover from this. The first 3 minutes brought back bad memories from the Barca game when Jens was sent off. Luckily, Arsenal got a break, a big one. If there was one team Arsenal needed a break against, it was against Fuck face’s team. But no…Arsenal needed to make sure they returned the favour in the same fucking game. Arsenal, full of virtue and values, cannot accept a gift but always wanting to give presents to others. Well done Arsene. You have raised the most virtuous and charitable team in the league.
The new Arsenal: a gift that keeps on giving.
Too much to take. Unfuckingbearable.
SICKENING… Arsenal F.C. owe an apology and a refund to all the loyal and dedicated supporters who spent large amounts of cash and traveled many a-weary mile to see this match.
Fuck. Just fucking great. Absolutely fucking great. Unbelievable. I need to find someway to extract all memory of Arsenal from my brain post 2005 and then maybe, just maybe I might be able to be watch another soccer game again.
The team I’m getting:
Szczesny, Clichy, Djourou, Kosciency, Sagna, Song, Wilshere, Nasri, Rosicky, Arshavin, Van Persie.
Interesting. I’m quietly confident. Been away for the past week. Probably a good thing, making time go that bit faster. I think the downside to not winning today is much larger than the upside to winning today. Everybody knows it’s number four on our priorities, but the much cliched winning feeling is very necessary. Cesc missing out on leading the team out is a bummer. Hopefully he gets a similar chance soon…
My prediction is Arshavin to have an important say, a goal or a game-changing performance..
ps- good on you Carib!! Very jealous but happy for you!
Off to see the game now with a horde of Gunners. If we win I’ll be drunk and broke. Lose, I’ll be sober and have fat pockets.
:laugh:
Nice goal. JET has the talent so hopefully he can translate that into success.
Besides all the other questions of the day the most pressing to learn is –
Did Carib make it into Wembley?
There are a thousand reasons you could come up with for why Arsenal must win this. I’ll name one that hasn’t been mentioned yet: do it for Dudu. You know he will be watching this with peaked interest after what a player from this team did to him some three years ago. That’s not the most important reason Arsenal need to win this trophy but I thought it was worth mentioning. I’ll be expecting a big crowd in the GDC tomorrow (technically I guess it would be later today, for most of you).
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!!!
COME OY YOU RED AND WHITE!!!!!
We win this, everything changes …
We better win this.
@Fred,
Mmmmm, we win this, we win this. I’m not sure about everything….
Come on Gunners. I’m fucking excited for this. Must, must, must, must win. End the drought, kickstart the new era of actually winning silverware just like winning the League Cup did back under George Graham in 1987. (The first time I saw Arsenal win a cup in the flesh. Last time was against Parma in Copenhagen… Sigh.)
We have the fire power and the class — we just need to show the grit and hunger.
I’m looking for some big game names to step forward like Arshavin, Van P. and Nasri. But I see Wilshere rising to the occasion too. I hope Rosicky isn’t off the pace and the defence doesn’t get a panic attack.
3-1. Come on you reds.
Go! Go! Go! for Cesc and Theo. RVP makes all the difference.
Watch this goal by Jay Emmanuel Thomas –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlwEQwvhSs4
Should whet your appetite for things to come.
My super gunners!!! Go! Go!! Go!!! Gun down d blues “b’mim” wit Ak47 to hit target A. I cant wait! Our silverware drougt has end! Just give me 3 unreplied goals