Finally, the long awaited moment for success has arrived and it couldn’t taste any sweeter. Little did we know, that when Vieira scored the winning penalty against Man.United in 2005, that we’d have to wait another 8 seasons to lift silverware again. Hopefully though, this’ll be just the start and will act as a ‘breakthrough’ trophy, so that the team can go on to enjoy further success in the near future.
Every successful team in the past has generally needed that first trophy, so the players know what it takes to win, whist also giving them the drive and determination to win medal after medal. For example, Sir Alex Ferguson took four years to win his first silverware at Man.United and as they say the rest is history, Jose Mourinho came in to manage a Chelsea side that had won very few medals, the first trophy he won was the league cup and he himself said that this was the catalyst for further success. Even Manchester City, with all their riches, and who hadn’t won a trophy for over 35 years benefited from winning the FA Cup.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that something similar will happen to Arsenal. Of course it’s not going to be easy as there are so many teams competing for the same prizes. It is though, however plausible and realistic that the team should be targeting greater success in the Premiership and the Champions League. The team is young and clearly hungry for success, and with the addition of a couple of top quality players, particularly up-front, there is no reason why the club can’t harbour ambitions to bring the good times back.
The future surrounding Arsenal now seems more promising. If we do go on to win trophies on a regular basis from now, it’ll be a piece of managerial genius from Wenger. Yes we’ve had to wait a long time for trophies but after the stadium move just staying in the champions league was an achievement in itself. I’ve been critical of him in the past but now if he gets it right he can be the man to lead us back to where we belong. On Saturday when he collected his medal it looked as though he’d become 10 years younger. He looked revitalised and fresh, as if the stress that had been built up over the last 9 years had left him. Hopefully he can be the man to lead us to glory once again, the FA Cup being the start on our road to success.
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Photo via Ronnie Macdonald