Sunday, 27th February will be the day all of Arsene Wenger’s hopes and expectations for his protégés will either come to fruition or bite the dust. Yet, Gooners everywhere, me inclusive, are hoping it will be the former.
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| Carling war....Wenger and McLeish go mhead-to-head for glory |
This team needs a trophy. The Emirates stadium is long overdue for one. All the endless planning, groundwork, scouting, investment (paltry it may seem) have all come to this.
As we file out against Alex McLeish’s Birmingham City inside the Wembley stadium on a brand new turf that replaces the erstwhile, troublesome, heavily-criticised surface this Sunday, it will be a day that dreams can come true.
All talk since last month has been about this game. The first final Arsenal have found themselves in since that FA Cup final against Manchester United in 2005. It is a must-win game. No bones about this one.
Coincidentally, this Carling Cup final will the 50th edition since the competition began rather ignominously in 1961. Coincidentally, it means a whale of a lot to Arsene Wenger and the graduates of his Colney creche, because they need success and need to bring a trophy to a team so desperately in need of silverware but starved of it in the past six seasons..
With such a scenario in mind, it would be tempting to dismiss the opponents on the day, Birmingham City as no-hopers, or lesser favourites. It is a dangerouas thing to do and despite what the bookmakers may say, Arsene Wenger and his players will not be falling into that trap.
Yes, our first game this year was away to Birmingham at St. Andrews in the league. It is a venue that holds bitter, better-forgotten memories for all Gunners. It was there that Eduardo Da Silva had his leg snapped into two in February, 2008 and forever lost his deadly touch in front of goal.
It was also there that we lost our way in our quest for league glory, as we imploded on that day, ending up throwing away our lead for a 2-2 draw and eventually giving up the lead at the top of the league ladder to - who else – Manchester United.
It was to this same ground that we returned on Saturday, January 1 this year and thrashed the hosts 3-0 in a game that saw Robin Van Persie hit the opener with his first successful freekick in almost two years!
Since then, Birmingham have strengthened their attack with the acquisition of two very dangerous players who have breached our defence in the past. Those two players are ex-Gunner David Bentley and ex-Newcastle forward, Nigeria’s Obafemi Martin. On their day, both players can hit wuthering heights of excellence if they get it right.
Bentley we all know about. So also Martins, who is full of endless running and still remains a handful for defences despite knocking on the wrong side of 30.
Unlike January 1 when we overpowered them, the Birmingham City that will file out against us this Sunday will be a very different proposition. I’m not too sure if Bentley will be eligible for the game cos he was part of the Tottenham side we beat last September at White Hart Lane in this same competition, thanks to two Sami Nasri penalties. Not sure about that. But even without him, McLeish can still call upon Serbian giant Nicola Zigic who is a formidable presence in the air and will keep the ever-impressive Johann Djourou on his toes for 90 minutes.
Fingers crossed, we will celebrate after 90 minutes, barring the odd-unforeseen event like a penalty out of nowhere or a deflected header off a freekick or a cornerkick. Against such things there are hardly any solutions. All the pre-game tactics and chalkboard permutations can quickly fly out of the window in such instances. But all Gooners, me inclusive are confident that after 90 minutes, we will be celebrating the end of our long, long trophy drought.
There is simply no reason to consider anything otherwise.
