Arsene was kind enough to write me a letter explaining Sunday’s match. I felt so much better after reading this . . . I am not sure if you are noting my sarcasm, but I am laying it down pretty thick.
Dear Arsenal America Supporters,
Sunday’s FA Cup tie was more physical than technical and physically Stoke were stronger better than us.
We had a fantastic careless attitude and at 1-1 we looked like we were on top in the last 20 minutes so it was important not to make a mistake. But we got caught with our pants down, picking daisies, looking at the stars, and wondering what was on the BBC that night . . . “oh, am I supposed to be focused while playing” . . . “oops” . . . on the counter-attack for their second goal and that was an important moment in the game.
I knew that it would be tight I had no interest in this cup . . . I mean let’s be honest, the only thing you win is a case of beer, and the opportunity to play in the first match of the season, and win another meaningless trophy . . . but I had hoped that after bringing on Ramsey, Eduardo and Arshavin that we would win the game. But Stoke were sharp, they were physical beating us up and they were always dangerous in the air with that Rory Decrap fellow. The pitch was very difficult because it was not very good and it took us too much time to bring the ball down and play. I have said this before, we will only play on the most perfect of pitches, because that is the only way that we will win . . . we . . . no?
I do not regret my team selection because I did not have much choice care. Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen and Gael Clichy could not play and I think Sol Campbell had a good game overall. I didn’t mention Silvestre because I am just hoping he goes away.
If you look at our schedule you cannot always play with the same XI, that is for sure. If I rotate and we don’t win it is my fault so I can only stand up and say that is the team I picked. We have ten injuries and we are going into a period where we cannot rotate a lot in the big games.
Sol made his second ‘debut’ for Arsenal and he did very well. Maybe in the last 20 minutes he was a bit fatigued completely out of breath, grasping his chest, praying that the game would end . . . but he was surprisingly fit for a guy who has not played for such a long time. He is motivated, he works very hard in training and you could see that on Sunday.
Sagna, Vermaelen and Clichy will all be back for Aston Villa on Wednesday and they could have missed that game if they had played at Stoke. Now it is vital for us to focus on Villa because we are in an interesting position and it is a very important game.
Thanks for your unquestioning, unwavering, and blind support.
Arsène Wenger
It was by no means our greatest performance, and our lack of experience and physicality showed. Our lineup was well . . . it was what it was:
Fabianski
Coquelin Campbell Silvestre Traore
Eastmond Denilson Fabregas
Emmanuel-Thomas Walcott Vela
Subs:
Arshavin
Ramsey
Eduardo
With Villa ahead of us on Wednesday, Arsene had to weigh all of the options. Goodplaya did a lovely write up that gives a breakdown of each of the players. So, we are down to two possible trophies, and they aren’t too shabby. The EPL title is well within reach and we have Porto next in the Champions League. Don’t marinate on Sunday too long. The only team of the big four that is left in the competition is Chelsea, and they have had a cake run in to the last few games. Here is the 5th Round draw of the FA Cup:
Wolves/Crystal Palace v Aston Villa
Manche$ter City v Stoke
Derby v Birmingham
Bolton v Spurs/Leeds
Chel$ea v Cardiff
Fulham v Notts County/Wigan
Reading v West Brom
Southampton v Portsmouth
Until Wednesday, Keep the Faith.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!
