To end a nine-year trophy drought, the pressure must be telling on all Arsenal players ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Hull City.
To end a nine-year trophy drought, the pressure must be telling on all Arsenal players ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Hull City. The last time Arsenal came close to winning a major trophy was in 2011 (League Cup) but the times have changed and now, if they can end their wait for a trophy then good times lie ahead for manager Arsene Wenger.
The Premier League hopes evaporated with the club landing a fourth spot and a 17th consecutive year in the Champions League. But even though Arsenal had led the EPL title race, the fans wanted ‘more’ than a mere fourth spot. The future of the French manager was called into question this season as the gaffer is yet to sign an extension on his contract. The Frenchman’s contract expires in the coming weeks and while he has dropped strong hints that he might stay on, no confirmation of a new deal has been released from within the club, with some fans becoming impatient and calling for change.
Arsenal go into Saturday’s final against Hull City without having won anything for nine years, leaving Arsene Wenger in the lurch and under the sort of pressure he has not experienced before in 30 years in management. When Mourinho made that ‘specialist in failure’ jibe at Wenger earlier this year, many critics and football pundits cried foul in the Portuguese’s comments while some gloated him.
Even if Chelsea and Mourinho failed to win anything this year, a defeat against the lowly Hull, 16th in the league and contesting their first major final, would lead to a major backlash amongst the supporters and also might see the end of one of the finest managers ever to grace the English football.
Since the expansion of the Emirates stadium, Arsene did not have the sufficient funds for the transfer activity. Since Arsenal moved from Highbury to the Emirates, the Gunners have not won anything at their new home. The club board, which the American businessman Stan Kroenke joined in 2008, has always said that the funds were available to Wenger who stuck by the Financial Fair Play rules when the other clubs around him, splashed the cash.
The time has come for Wenger to prove his mettle, end the talk of ‘trophyless years’ and bring back the old glory of winning silverware back to the Arsenal. Players know how important this trophy means to them and for their fans and thus we might see a dawn of a new era in the history of Arsenal Football Club. If unless, things can change very rapidly in football.
