Chavski *word censored* Fa cup final Sat 1st Aug KO 1730

[LeftfootlegendGooner]

I think we will beat these *word censored* 2-1 or 3-1, they are not that great and although we can be absolutely crap on our day I think the players will rise to the occasion.

I believe that they have been putting a lot of eggs in this basket and saving themselves for this game.

Although I could be totally wrong and we get beaten but I have to be optimistic, after all that's what being a football supporter is all about.

Auba with a brace

[xisstential]

I THINK that what steve o is trying to say is that the players who fcuked emery over, will be the same players that will fcuk arteta over, the only difference being that emery was trying to get rid of them whilst arteta is making them key players

Really? I love the myth held by Dick lovers in here that he was weeding out the chaff
Mustaphi was being recalled time and time again by Dick, despite having made more fuck ups under him than he has under Arteta, Xhaka (his captain) had been recalled to the bench, but the bad feelings to wards him from the fans was still fresh so wasn’t starting.
Ozil waz being recalled ad nauseum by Dick as he looked cluelessly for a way to turn around our performances.
Arteta has consigned Ozil to the scrapheap and has shown Guendozzi (arguably one of the least influential midfielders I have ever seen) that he won’t tolerate petulence from his players!
I’m still not convinced bu Arteta, but he has shown more balls and tactical awareness in the last few weeks than Dick did in 18 months!
And as I keep saying, none of this squad are his signings, bar a few loans!
We were raped in Baku, because despite a decent first half, Dick was left totally bamboozled by a slight change in tactics from the chavs and we got totally fucking humiliated!

Really?? Where...& when? There have been some shockers under Arteta as well.......he also capitulated 2nd half against Chelsea, the Brighton debacle recently, Aston Villa, even more recently, Watford, despite the win, was a shit show with bizarre, inexplicable substitutions.......Dick might not have been the answer, but neither is Arteta.

[Perryashburtongroves]

I remember as a kid I used always buy Shoot or Match (maybe both) every single year when the Cup final special was released even though it was never Arsenal in the final.

Then the 6 hours coverage on the BBC the day of the final, the players seen taking a stroll around the hotel grounds right after their breakfast, chatting nervously amongst themselves, a few laughing and joking to ease the tension. The excitement building as the buses arrived at the stadium, the twin towers and Wembley way pictured from above.

The commentary team out on the Wembley turf, normally in the goal mouth where someone would make themselves a hero later that afternoon, discussing the game with the vast empty stands in the background.

Then the fans would start to arrive and the stadium began to heave, the players from both teams would be out on the pitch in their suits breathing in the atmosphere. The tension would rise, back to the studio inside the stadium for the final discussion before kick off.

Both teams came out of the tunnel in their tracksuits, led by their managers. Line up, meet and greet, Abide With Me, tensions at an absolute fever pitch and then KICK OFF.

Fucking hell I was so excited for those games, dreaming of the day Arsenal would finally be there. My first Arsenal cup final was ‘93. My dad brought me to the pub for it, nervously drinking glasses of coke and when Wrighty put us 1 nil up I started to dream that finally I would get to see us lift the trophy, see the players walk up those famous steps one by one, red and white scarves wrapped around their heads or over their shoulders and we’d lift the trophy. My time had finally come.

Then David Hirst equalised and I cried my eyes out at the cruelty of it all, my dreams were shattered and I was brought home thinking that was it, I’d never get to see us win the cup.

Then the replay the Thursday night, the tension so high I could barely watch, Wrighty again you absolute fucking legend, surely this time we’d do it, then another equaliser. FUCK. Extra time, this is all to much for a young kid, a penalty shoot out on the horizon, what the fuck is a penalty shoot out???

A corner at the death.....ANDY LINEGHAN HAS WON THE CUP FOR ARSENAL.

What a fucking header, a bullet, unstoppable, and Chris Woods was a brilliant keeper. The feeling of sheer elation when the ball hit the net Just cannot be put in to words. We walk up the steps and Tony lifts the trophy and I’m crying again. This is what I’ve waited my whole life to see. We’ve done it and even though it’s really late I’m outside replicating the goal over and over and over again. What a night, one of THE great nights.

When I kicked a ball in my back garden as a kid the goals I would score would never be league winning goals, nope, the commentator in my mind would be describing the cup final and I would always score the winner for Arsenal right at the death. He’s done it, and the crowd would go wild.

Andy Lineghan got to live my dream and the dreams of countless other boys my age that night.

The cup has been devalued from them days no doubt for a whole host of reasons and fuck knows what it will be like for future generations, but for people like me who grew up with it being the biggest game of the season and one of the very few live on tv it will always be magical.

And even now when I’m kicking a peppa pig ball around the garden with my kids and I turn and fire in a goal it’s still a last gasp winner in the cup final for Arsenal that I score.

So next Saturday’s match is so much more than 90 minutes of football for me, it’s a lifetime worth of dreams and if we get to lift the trophy once more there’s a good chance I’ll be crying again.

THE ARSENAL.

Oh,mate. Oh, those days. Those days when it mattered and the sun always shone on cup final day and in the 80s, as a kid, it was never us but I sat there watching it all. I still tell anyone who'll listen that when you take away Arsenal goals, the two I love the most are Keith Houchen's diving header against the scum and Lawrie Sanchez's glancing header against the murderers. The cup mattered, the cup final was a distant dream until, as you say, that 1993 final when I went with my dad and godfather. Fucking hell, I still love us getting to the final, I've loved seeing us win the cup and I think it breaks the hearts of so many real fans of English football around the world to see what it has become. It's been allowed to fall into neglect and that is an absolute disgrace. The people who have allowed that should hang their heads in shame.
Come Saturday evening, I'll be there on my sofa, not in the ground, watching it all and hoping we do it. We have a special bond with this cup, let's have another one to add to the list.

[IW8Goalmachine]

I remember as a kid I used always buy Shoot or Match (maybe both) every single year when the Cup final special was released even though it was never Arsenal in the final.

Then the 6 hours coverage on the BBC the day of the final, the players seen taking a stroll around the hotel grounds right after their breakfast, chatting nervously amongst themselves, a few laughing and joking to ease the tension. The excitement building as the buses arrived at the stadium, the twin towers and Wembley way pictured from above.

The commentary team out on the Wembley turf, normally in the goal mouth where someone would make themselves a hero later that afternoon, discussing the game with the vast empty stands in the background.

Then the fans would start to arrive and the stadium began to heave, the players from both teams would be out on the pitch in their suits breathing in the atmosphere. The tension would rise, back to the studio inside the stadium for the final discussion before kick off.

Both teams came out of the tunnel in their tracksuits, led by their managers. Line up, meet and greet, Abide With Me, tensions at an absolute fever pitch and then KICK OFF.

Fucking hell I was so excited for those games, dreaming of the day Arsenal would finally be there. My first Arsenal cup final was ‘93. My dad brought me to the pub for it, nervously drinking glasses of coke and when Wrighty put us 1 nil up I started to dream that finally I would get to see us lift the trophy, see the players walk up those famous steps one by one, red and white scarves wrapped around their heads or over their shoulders and we’d lift the trophy. My time had finally come.

Then David Hirst equalised and I cried my eyes out at the cruelty of it all, my dreams were shattered and I was brought home thinking that was it, I’d never get to see us win the cup.

Then the replay the Thursday night, the tension so high I could barely watch, Wrighty again you absolute fucking legend, surely this time we’d do it, then another equaliser. FUCK. Extra time, this is all to much for a young kid, a penalty shoot out on the horizon, what the fuck is a penalty shoot out???

A corner at the death.....ANDY LINEGHAN HAS WON THE CUP FOR ARSENAL.

What a fucking header, a bullet, unstoppable, and Chris Woods was a brilliant keeper. The feeling of sheer elation when the ball hit the net Just cannot be put in to words. We walk up the steps and Tony lifts the trophy and I’m crying again. This is what I’ve waited my whole life to see. We’ve done it and even though it’s really late I’m outside replicating the goal over and over and over again. What a night, one of THE great nights.

When I kicked a ball in my back garden as a kid the goals I would score would never be league winning goals, nope, the commentator in my mind would be describing the cup final and I would always score the winner for Arsenal right at the death. He’s done it, and the crowd would go wild.

Andy Lineghan got to live my dream and the dreams of countless other boys my age that night.

The cup has been devalued from them days no doubt for a whole host of reasons and fuck knows what it will be like for future generations, but for people like me who grew up with it being the biggest game of the season and one of the very few live on tv it will always be magical.

And even now when I’m kicking a peppa pig ball around the garden with my kids and I turn and fire in a goal it’s still a last gasp winner in the cup final for Arsenal that I score.

So next Saturday’s match is so much more than 90 minutes of football for me, it’s a lifetime worth of dreams and if we get to lift the trophy once more there’s a good chance I’ll be crying again.

THE ARSENAL.

Oh,mate. Oh, those days. Those days when it mattered and the sun always shone on cup final day and in the 80s, as a kid, it was never us but I sat there watching it all. I still tell anyone who'll listen that when you take away Arsenal goals, the two I love the most are Keith Houchen's diving header against the scum and Lawrie Sanchez's glancing header against the murderers. The cup mattered, the cup final was a distant dream until, as you say, that 1993 final when I went with my dad and godfather. Fucking hell, I still love us getting to the final, I've loved seeing us win the cup and I think it breaks the hearts of so many real fans of English football around the world to see what it has become. It's been allowed to fall into neglect and that is an absolute disgrace. The people who have allowed that should hang their heads in shame.
Come Saturday evening, I'll be there on my sofa, not in the ground, watching it all and hoping we do it. We have a special bond with this cup, let's have another one to add to the list.

Give a CL spot to the winner.

That should get it back to the old days.

[StuartL]

Have been luckily enough to have been there and seen us lift the cup 6 times - 93, 98, 02, 03, 14, 15.

Missed 05 due to my daughter being selected to represent Suffolk at tennis and missed 17 as was visiting my dad not long after he came out of hospital ( had tickets available on both occasions)

Only been there to suffer defeat once, v Scousers in 01, where bizarrely we played as well as you could ask for without putting them to bed


We are so fortunate to have witnessed these matches even during this period of instability (shitness)

Saturdays match means that Arsenal v Chelsea equals the most played cup final, alongside Arsenal v Newcastle, Arsenal v Liverpool, and West Brom v Villa !

No club has won 3 times against the same opponents ( so far) let’s make another FA Cup record

Come on you Gunners

[Bradywasking]

I make this my 25th final as an Arsenal supporter. That includes one replay. I have been lucky enough to attend three of them.1993 League Cup Final and the 2002 and 2003 FA Cup Finals in Cardiff .
Losing to the Victims in 2001 was the worst of the lot, well Paris 2006 was probably up there with it. The day in 2001 we had a family function in our house, plastic Victim fans at it..Didn't give a fuck until the bastards won. Being in Cardiff in 2002 was brilliant..Trip over land and sea via Hollyhead , with tickets from the Yorkshire FA through a work colleague.
The FA Cup Final is special, shame on those who have allowed it to descend into an afterthought of the media driven Premier League agenda.

[goonersid]

I THINK that what steve o is trying to say is that the players who fcuked emery over, will be the same players that will fcuk arteta over, the only difference being that emery was trying to get rid of them whilst arteta is making them key players

Really? I love the myth held by Dick lovers in here that he was weeding out the chaff
Mustaphi was being recalled time and time again by Dick, despite having made more fuck ups under him than he has under Arteta, Xhaka (his captain) had been recalled to the bench, but the bad feelings to wards him from the fans was still fresh so wasn’t starting.
Ozil waz being recalled ad nauseum by Dick as he looked cluelessly for a way to turn around our performances.
Arteta has consigned Ozil to the scrapheap and has shown Guendozzi (arguably one of the least influential midfielders I have ever seen) that he won’t tolerate petulence from his players!
I’m still not convinced bu Arteta, but he has shown more balls and tactical awareness in the last few weeks than Dick did in 18 months!
And as I keep saying, none of this squad are his signings, bar a few loans!
We were raped in Baku, because despite a decent first half, Dick was left totally bamboozled by a slight change in tactics from the chavs and we got totally fucking humiliated!

Really?? Where...& when? There have been some shockers under Arteta as well.......he also capitulated 2nd half against Chelsea, the Brighton debacle recently, Aston Villa, even more recently, Watford, despite the win, was a shit show with bizarre, inexplicable substitutions.......Dick might not have been the answer, but neither is Arteta.

The games against Villa and Watford were dead rubbers with an albeit pointless fa cup final looming!
We saw Dick adopt the same tactics against superior teams, time and time again (eg against the victims) with the outcome always the same. (Einsteins definition of stupidity)
We saw Arsenal totally outplayed by Citeh a few weeks ago, then we saw a transformation against the same opposition in the semi final and a similar approach against the victims, both bringing wins.
Let’s see what happens on Saturday, again against superior opposition.

[augie]

I will still question whether on paper they are superior to us

[SteveO 35]

Gotta admit I'm getting the buzz. Didn't think I would but I am. Struggling to get any work done, drifting away during video conferences, just keep thinking about the Final.

COME ON YOU RIP ROARING GUNNERS!!

And how nice it is to hear that too......in a world where anyone under the age of 30 goes to bed dreaming of finishing 4th next season, tucked up in their Champions League duvet

Now if you could only extend your non-snobbish outlook in the direction of Sean Dyche mate.....we're almost there
If its foreign influence you're after of course, then I must say I would be open to the idea of him bringing back Abou as his assistant

[DB10GOONER]

Gotta admit I'm getting the buzz. Didn't think I would but I am. Struggling to get any work done, drifting away during video conferences, just keep thinking about the Final.

COME ON YOU RIP ROARING GUNNERS!!

And how nice it is to hear that too......in a world where anyone under the age of 30 goes to bed dreaming of finishing 4th next season, tucked up in their Champions League duvet

Now if you could only extend your non-snobbish outlook in the direction of Sean Dyche mate.....we're almost there
If its foreign influence you're after of course, then I must say I would be open to the idea of him bringing back Abou as his assistant

Tbh SteveO with me it's not snobbism - I just don't rate old Cum gargler Dyche. I was very willing to give GG a go and he hardly joined us from an elite club! Also was very willing to give old Arsene a go and he was unheard of when he joined.

For me Dyche has all the characteristics of the likes of Moyes, Fat Sam, and Redkrapp - they are the big fish in the small pond, they make a lot of noise at a small club, and often do ok punching above their weight and avoiding relagation or getting mid table finishes and the odd top 6 finish, but they get found out when they get a shot at a big club and have to deal with the added expectation, huge player egos and added media pressure.

Of course we'll never know for deffo until Dyche gets that shot. I just hope it's not with us!

And hopefully we don't take Diaby on as a fitness coach!

[DB10GOONER]

Woohoo it's the FA CUP FINAL Motherfuckers! Let's fucking go!!

[Clash]

Some great posts on this thread reminiscing about cup final days of years gone by. Cup final day is often remembered by people as a day of glorious sunshine but I was thinking about this and not only is it not true, I noticed something interesting.

Starting with our glorious double in 1971 up to our glorious double in 1998, notice how the sunny / cloudy cup final Saturdays come in batches.

Sunny - 1971

Cloudy - 1972
Cloudy - 1973
Cloudy - 1974
Cloudy - 1975

Sunny - 1976
Sunny - 1977
Sunny - 1978
Sunny - 1979
Sunny - 1980

Cloudy - 1981
Cloudy - 1982
Cloudy - 1983
Cloudy - 1984
Cloudy - 1985 (with a bit of sunshine)

Sunny - 1986
Sunny - 1987
Sunny - 1988
Sunny - 1989

Cloudy - 1990
Cloudy - 1991
Cloudy - 1992
Cloudy - 1993 (with a bit of sunshine)
Cloudy - 1994
Cloudy - 1995
Cloudy - 1996
Cloudy - 1997

Sunny - 1998

Okay on reflection it wasnt that interesting and is just weather. But having typed it, I'm gonna post it anyway

[Bradywasking]

Woohoo it's the FA CUP FINAL Motherfuckers! Let's fucking go!!

Yes, let's park the negativity for a few days.....please.

[rodders999]

Some great posts on this thread reminiscing about cup final days of years gone by. Cup final day is often remembered by people as a day of glorious sunshine but I was thinking about this and not only is it not true, I noticed something interesting.

Starting with our glorious double in 1971 up to our glorious double in 1998, notice how the sunny / cloudy cup final Saturdays come in batches.

Sunny - 1971

Cloudy - 1972
Cloudy - 1973
Cloudy - 1974
Cloudy - 1975

Sunny - 1976
Sunny - 1977
Sunny - 1978
Sunny - 1979
Sunny - 1980

Cloudy - 1981
Cloudy - 1982
Cloudy - 1983
Cloudy - 1984
Cloudy - 1985 (with a bit of sunshine)

Sunny - 1986
Sunny - 1987
Sunny - 1988
Sunny - 1989

Cloudy - 1990
Cloudy - 1991
Cloudy - 1992
Cloudy - 1993 (with a bit of sunshine)
Cloudy - 1994
Cloudy - 1995
Cloudy - 1996
Cloudy - 1997

Sunny - 1998

Okay on reflection it wasnt that interesting and is just weather. But having typed it, I'm gonna post it anyway

And there it is folks, the forum has finally eaten its own arsehole. Can’t believe it’s taken us this long to get here but the glorious day has finally arrived.

Take a bow Clash, you’ve succeeded what countless others have tried to do but failed (myself included).

[Retro Gunner]

Some great posts on this thread reminiscing about cup final days of years gone by. Cup final day is often remembered by people as a day of glorious sunshine but I was thinking about this and not only is it not true, I noticed something interesting.

Starting with our glorious double in 1971 up to our glorious double in 1998, notice how the sunny / cloudy cup final Saturdays come in batches.

Sunny - 1971

Cloudy - 1972
Cloudy - 1973
Cloudy - 1974
Cloudy - 1975

Sunny - 1976
Sunny - 1977
Sunny - 1978
Sunny - 1979
Sunny - 1980

Cloudy - 1981
Cloudy - 1982
Cloudy - 1983
Cloudy - 1984
Cloudy - 1985 (with a bit of sunshine)

Sunny - 1986
Sunny - 1987
Sunny - 1988
Sunny - 1989

Cloudy - 1990
Cloudy - 1991
Cloudy - 1992
Cloudy - 1993 (with a bit of sunshine)
Cloudy - 1994
Cloudy - 1995
Cloudy - 1996
Cloudy - 1997

Sunny - 1998

Okay on reflection it wasnt that interesting and is just weather. But having typed it, I'm gonna post it anyway

Did the world end after 1998 Clash ?? Come on mate, don't do half the job, we want the whole Cup Final weather story, right up until last year. I wasted 3 or 4 minutes reading your post, so I might as well waste another couple getting the full picture.

Mind you, sad bastard that I am, I found myself wondering if there was a pattern....had we won on sunny days and lost on cloudy. Cloud with a bit of sunshine is difficult to analyse though !! Fuck me Clash, what are you doing to us ??!!


Oh and perhaps you could give us the forecast for Saturday.