Gooners World Wide Rejoice…Our Arsenal Is Back!

May 17^th 2014 was a special day for Arsenal and its fans. On that day the mighty Arsenal ended a 9-year trophy drought that was the bane of the existence of Gooners around the world.

The nervousness before the match was felt in every pub, bar and home on Earth.

And especially throughout Wembley Stadium. This trophy wasn’t just a weight lifted off everyone’s shoulders. On the contrary, it was far more than that.

This FA Cup trophy is the start of a new era for Arsenal. This victory will bring the return of the old Arsenal. The Arsenal that used to run riot on the EPL at Highbury.

It’s time for the Gooners to return to their spot atop the Premiership, and the F.A. Cup is just the beginning.

 

The Long Wait, And The First Step In The Right Direction 

Since Arsenal last lifted a trophy in 2005, a lot has transpired at Arsenal FC, most of it bad.

With the move from Highbury to the new Emirates stadium came a dark time in Arsene Wenger’s reign as Arsenal boss.

First was the mass exodus of quality players who have all moved on to greener pastures.

It began with Thierry Henry and Patrick Viera who moved on to FC Barcelona and Juventus respectively.  

It’s impossible to replace the experience and world-class talent those two brought to the club.

But Arsenal had young talented players in their ranks and with them the future seemed bright.

That’s until that next generation of players also started to leave one by one.

Gael Clichy saw the money that Manchester City was throwing around and decided City was building something special.

Samir Nasri who was one of Arsenal’s young creative building blocks followed Clichy to Man City for money and the chance to win trophies.

Cesc Fabregas, the heart and soul of the Arsenal team after Viera and Henry left, decided he wanted to be part of the footballing revolution that was going on under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona.

Cesc went home to Catalonia and dealt Arsenal a deathblow.

Alex Song who was experiencing an amazing time at Arsenal decided Cesc was on to something by going to Barcelona, and was eventually sold to Barcelona as well.

And last but not least, the player that Arsene Wenger stuck by through years of injury, Robin Van Persie, decided he had to find his way out of the Emirates.

Van Persie followed Glichy and Nasri to Manchester, but to the Red half. Once Van Persie completed his move to United and won a trophy in his first season under Sir Alex Ferguson while being paid a handsome salary, the nail in Arsenal’s coffin was sealed.

That is 7 world-class players gone in the span of six seasons. Any team on Earth would have struggled with that amount of talent gone.

Questions were being asked by supporters about why Wenger was not spending the money he acquired from player sales on new talent.

I personally think Wenger was not allowed to. The Arsenal Board turned him into a glorified accountant to help balance their books so Arsenal could pay off the Emirates.

In the process the team continually had to settle for 4^th place finishes. Arsenal never truly competed for honors during the trophy drought, and it got to the point where as shameful as it was, Arsenal celebrated 4^th place finishes on the final day of the season as if they had won the Champions League.

Embarrassing times at Arsenal. Then came whispers that Wenger had a large transfer kitty coming in the summer of 2013.

Ivan Gadzidis gave interviews telling the press that Arsenal were ready to compete in the transfer market again. Gooners had heard this before and none of us would believe it until we saw someone being introduced at a press conference in London.

Wenger and Arsenal chased players the entire summer of 2013 and whiffed on Gonzalo Higuain, Stevan Jovetic and Luis Gustavo.

At that point Arsenal fans didn’t want a new signing, we needed one simply for morale.

And on the final day of the transfer market at the expense of hated Rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Wenger pulled off the coup of the window and landed Real Madrid star Mesut Ozil.

Finally, Arsene spent money on a player. Not just any player either. Jose Mourinho said Arsenal had just snatched up the best number 10 in World Football.

This is what Wenger needed to do. He needed to show everyone Arsenal could still attract high-profile players to London.

The next step would be winning a trophy.

 

FA Cup Final, Nervous Start, Epic Finish, And The Arsenal Are Back 

After a long season of being on top, then losing the top spot, having ridicule and scorn aimed at Wenger, and missed opportunities to be contenders, it seemed just like another season at the Emirates.

The best players were plagued with injuries, the Gooners slipped in and out of title contention then in and out of top 4.

And against our title rivals the Gooners were hammered by the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City.

It was shaping up to be a miserable season. The Gooners were out of Europe, City had won the Carling Cup so that trophy was gone, and the Gooners were out of the running for the EPL title.

The best and only chance for a trophy was the FA Cup. And through circumstance of bad results for other big clubs, Arsenal avoided having to play Man City in the Final.

Call it luck, call it the Football Gods finally shining on Arsenal, but avoiding City was necessary.

Facing Hull City in the final was nothing to be ashamed of. Because at this point Arsenal just needed a trophy any way they could get it.

Any trophy would get the monkey off their back. Once the match started, Hull turned into Real Madrid and started scoring for fun. Good Grief.

Hull scored two quick goals and had it not been for Kieran Gibbs’ goal line clearance with his head, Arsenal would have been down 3 goals in less than 15 minutes. From that clearance on, Arsenal took it to Hull and climbed back into the match.

Once the score line was tied up 2-2 with goals from Santi Cazorla and Laurent Koscielny, the game was Arsenal’s to lose.

After 90 minutes of regular time was over came two extra time periods and possibly penalty kicks.

I can’t speak for Gooners everywhere, but I know personally I wanted no parts of a penalty shoot-out. The Gooners had to win in regular time.

Wenger had to figure out a way for the lads to end this and end this in 30 minutes…and he did just that.

As much as the “WengerOut” and Anti-Wenger people from all over the world say Wenger is no longer a top manager, he pulled a master class move of tactical brilliance.

(Wenger’s Team Talk before extra time)

Wenger pocketed two substitutions the entire match, then brought on two Arsenal juggernauts in Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere. Those substitutions galvanized the fans all over the world and did the same to the players on the pitch.

Once Jack and Tomas got on the pitch with their fresh legs, Hull saw the writing on the wall.

Arsenal created chance after chance until finally in the 109^th minute off of a cheeky back heel from Oliver Giroud, Aaron Ramsey put in the match winner. It was sheer elation around the entire planet. 

This Vine of the final whistle gives me goosebums every time I watch it. Watching Wenger celebrate is fun enough, but look at Bacary Sagna, Koscielny and Per Mertesacker in the background. Absolutely epic.

It’s been a long time since anyone has seen Wenger so happy. And this tweet my good Arsenal friend Swoosh Gooner says it all.

Honestly Wenger looked 10 years younger after the final whistle.

— Swöösh (@SwooshGunner) May 17, 2014

He’s right; Wenger looks like “Invincibles” era Wenger in all the videos and pictures.

And this ladies and gentlemen is the first step in Wenger bringing the Gooners back to the pinnacle of World Football where they belong. Mesut Ozil and the FA Cup were just the beginning in our re-discovery of greatness.

This is a warning to all the “WengerOut” fools in the Arsenal fan base: We will NOT tolerate your negativity. Support your manager or go root for Fulham or Tottenham.

And take anyone who has enjoyed watching Arsenal suffer for 9 long years with you.

Arsenal’s time to shine is back, get used to seeing happy Gooners and trophies being raised. For too long Arsenal were a selling club and outsiders of true trophy contention.

In one kick of the ball, Ramsey has continued a plan that began with the purchase of Mesut Ozil. We are champions again. The Mighty Arsenal is back World Futbol, Expect it and Respect it.

And just like it has been since 1996, “In Arsene We trust.”

Follow @LSN_Frantz on Twitter