With a win over the Hull City in the finals of the Football Association Challenge Cup, the Londoners Arsenal conclude their season on a high. After an uncomfortable league form this season that saw a huge amount of ups and downs, they finished fourth in the Premier League table next to the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea. With a Champions League exit against Bayern Munich, Capitol One Cup defeat in the hands of Chelsea, the FA Cup was a pretty deserved on for the gunners considering the will power and the determination the squad played with through out the season.
A Slump off late this season took the Premier League title out of bound
Arsenal started off in a poor manner losing at home to Aston Villa with a 1-3 scoreline. Soon after,the revival of this mega club seemed to happen in a magnificent manner. The likes of Mesut Özil (On a record transfer from Real Madrid) ,Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud kept on firing and took the team to the zenith of the league table. Defenders did their job extremely well, particularly Per Mertasacker and Laurent Koscielny duo kept calm at the back while the attackers kept banging in goals.
It wasn’t supposed to be a bed of roses for the Gunners as they kept losing Ramsey, Walcott, Chamberlain, Wilshere, Podolski and lots more at regular intervals.Their brilliant run was hindered by the curse of injuries and it started to take a great toll on Arsene and his team. A team that tasted the feeling of being at peak for a major period of the season, all of a sudden, saw a big and massive decline which threatened even their fourth spot. However when Arsenal were thrown at the bottom of the hill in the title race, the team began to click again and marched into the top four place yet again.
With the Champions League position secured for next season, Arsenal bagged 79 points in Premier League this season -7 points behind winner City, 5 points behind the runners up Liverpool and 3 points behind their local rivals Chelsea.
Dreams come true at the Wembley as Arsenal ended their trophy drought
Losing to Chelsea in the Capital One Cup by a two goal deficit and by not scoring even a single goal, pressure was on Arsene to bring the FA Cup to the Emirates. Despite a rough league period, Arsenal kept their FA Cup hopes alive. Arsenal’s road to the final saw them defeat the defending champions Wigan Athletic on penalties in the semi-final, after they knocked out Tottenham Hotspur, Coventry City, Liverpool and Everton in the previous rounds.
Cartoon depicting Arsenal’s successful campaign at the FA Cup.
As the Wembley roared in unison, early strikes from James Chester and Curtis Davies gave Steve Bruce’s men the lead inside eight minutes. Before the end of the fist 45 minutes,the Spaniard Santi Cazorla delivered into a net from a wonderful free kick which without a doubt brought Arsenal right back into the game. Arsenal were under huge amount of pressure in the second half and as the hour mark ticked, Koscielny glanced a header just wide when he should have done better while substitute Yaya Sanogo went close with a near-post flick. Minutes later, the 28-year-old Koscielny compensated for his earlier miss by poking home a loose ball in the box, as Bacary Sagna’s header bounced off Olivier Giroud. It stood 2-2 at the full time mark and the match went into the extra time.
On 109 minutes, with Hull players dead on their feet and awaiting penalties, Aaron Ramsey latched onto a clever back heel from Giroud to poke home his 18th – and without doubt most crucial goal of the season to win the Cup for the Gunners.Trophy drought of 9 years came to an end and a huge sigh of relief were brought in the faces of the manager and the players of Arsenal Football Club. As Arsenal wins their 11th FA Cup, they equal the record number of times won by a team, same as the number of times won by Manchester United.
Seeing Arsene Wenger smile, the players celebrate, the fans getting emotional was a perfect way to finish off the season.
Resilient fight by Arsenal not enough to march in the Road to Lisbon
As they walked into this season’s Champions League after 16 times Champions League qualification ,Arsenal were put in the group of death which featured the Marseille, Borussia Dortmund and Napoli. They passed the initial hurdle and walked into the top 16. In the process they defeated Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park and became the first English team to do so.
Then they were beaten by the reigning champions Bayern Munich, the same team that knocked out Arsenal last season as well.Though Arsenal gave a tough fight, Pep Guardiola’s men were superior and eliminated us before reaching the quarter finals. So there stands not much to discuss about the run in the Champions League for the Gunners.
Best Performer of the season: Aaron Ramsey
Back in last December, Our Arsenal representative wrote a piece in Sportwalkindia.com article explaining how rejuvenated Ramsey promises Arsenal a trophy and he has lived up to the expectations.
The jaw dropping performance this season came from Aaron Ramsey. With 18 goals this season from 38 appearances being a midfielder who was out for a considerable part of the season has performed to his best of potential to bring Arsenal to the top at the beginning and then helped in securing the fourth place. The 23 years old Welsh international provided the winning goal that gave Arsenal their eleventh FA Cup. Certainly,he was the stand out performer for Arsenal this season.
Aaron Ramsey has played a vital role in pushing Arsenal’s ambitions towards reality.
Flop star of the season: Olivier Giroud
Despite the number of goals scored,most of which were spoon-fed, Olivier Giroud has been the flopstar of the season.His inability to cope up with the pace in the big games has let Arsenal drop points at crucial stages. He failed to deliver at times without the likes of Özil and Ramsey’s assistance, though Arsene’s not buying in January policy can also be questioned of. Thus Giroud has been the flop star for the Gunners this season.
Best moment of the season: Winning the FA Cup
Winning the FA Cup Final by beating Hull City is undoubtedly the best moment of the season for Arsenal.The most delightful scene was to see Arsene Wenger finally lift a silverware after nine years of drought.
Worst moment of the season: Arsenal’s poor outing against Chelsea
Arsene’s 1000th match was rather a match he would never like to remember. Stamford Bridge saw Arsenal getting humiliated by a 6-0 scoreline.The war of words between Wenger and Mourinho and the horrible scoreline at Stamford Bridge brought shame for the Gunners as they were outperformed by their local rivals.
Winning the FA Cup Final by beating Hull City is undoubtedly the best moment of the season for Arsenal.The most delightful scene was to see Arsene Wenger finally lift a silverware after nine years of drought.
The Arsenal supporters will see the FA Cup victory as the arrival of good times.
Photo by: Ronnie MacDonald
Expectations for next season from Arsenal:
With the Community Shield as the next major cup tie,against the blue side of Manchester, Arsenal have some modifications to do before the next season commences.With Liverpool again in top four, Manchester City, Chelsea and a revived United can give a tough run next season along with Tottenham Hotspur and Everton. The FA Cup might just have lifted the morale to another level.
Arsene Wenger’s transfer activities this window will hold paramount importance for the title run and other glory next season. With a hope to retain its key players,Wenger needs to strengthen his squad this time-a lesson he might have learnt this season by having a thin squad. As usual,expectations will be high and Wenger and his men need to live up to the expectations of their fans. With many positives to take from this season like Ramsey back to his best, Özil stepping into the team well, Wojciech Szczesny doing a fine job as a goalkeeper, Arsenal need to work on their poor zones like set pieces, failing to convert the opportunities, counter attack and defensive errors to challenge for the title next season.
Player Rating:
Based on their performances through out the season, here are the ratings out of 10.
Player |
Ratings |
| Wojciech Szczesny | 8.5 |
| Lukasz Fabianski | 8 |
| Emiliano Viviano | NA |
| Bacary Sagna | 8 |
| Per Mertesacker | 9 |
| Thomas Vermaelen | 6.5 |
| Laurent Koscielny | 9 |
| Nacho Monreal | 5 |
| Carl Jenkinson | 5 |
| Kieran Gibbs | 7.5 |
| Tomas Rosicky | 7.5 |
| Mikel Arteta | 6.5 |
| Jack Wilshere | 7 |
| Mesut Ozil | 7 |
| Aaron Ramsey | 9.5 |
| Santi Cazorla | 8 |
| Mathieu Flamini | 7 |
| Abou Diaby | 1 |
| Kim Kallstrom | 5.5 |
| Gedion Zelalem | 1 |
| Lukas Podolski | 7 |
| Olivier Giroud | 5 |
| Serge Gnabry | 4 |
| Theo Walcott | 6 |
| Alex Oxlade Chamberlain | 6/5 |
| Yaya Sanogo | 4 |
| Nicklas Bendtner | 2.5 |
| Ryo Miyaichi | 1 |
Between Arsenal and a Trophy
Fanview: Rejuvenated Ramsey promises Arsenal’s title chase
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