9 years: The making of an Arsenal victory

Arsenal players celebrating their FA Cup victory

And finally, it has happened. I knew it was only a matter of time before it did. And it took 9 years to finally happen. But they have done it at last. Arsenal. FA cup champions 2014! And I still need to check my phone everytime to see that it really happened. It all seems so surreal! But I have to admit, I don’t mind that 9 year gap anymore; simply because of the fact that it was that gap which made this victory all the more special. I don’t think the happiness that we as Arsenal fans felt at the final whistle would have been anywhere near it was that night, had Arsenal recently won a trophy.

21st May 2005. Arsenal scraped through a goalless draw against United, where quite frankly, they had been heavily outplayed. But they emerged victorious in a tense penalty shootout, with mid field general Vieira slotting home from the spot to win the FA cup. What followed were scenes of jubilation and happiness. Beating United, their fiercest rivals to win the FA cup is obviously a great feat. But who knew, that what was to follow in the next 9 years, was a barren trophyless run. With a team consisting of Bergkamp, Henry, Vieira,Ljunberg, Pires etc, you can’t reallly blame fans for not expecting anything on those lines.

The following year, Arsenal were bang on with expectations, reaching the UEFA champions league final, and leading 0-1 for a majority of the game with 10 men against Barcelona, and almost doing the unthinkable. But it really was going to be almost impossible.to hold a potent Barca team from scoring, and that too, with 10 men. Barcelona went on to win that game 2-1, but nobody questioned the fighting spirit of that Arsenal team.

It was after that year, when the real test for Arsene Wenger began. Arsenal moved from Highbury to the Emirates, and were debt ridden in doing so. At the same time, Wenger lost the core of the team he had built in the past decade. Henry moved on to Barcelona; the likes of Ljungerg, Bergkamp etc. retired and it was left to him to rebuild the team from scratch, without spending too much, keeping in mind the debt Arsenal were in at that moment of time. Wenger always believed in the exuberance of youth and his philosophy is quite obvious through one of his most famous quotes: “At Arsenal, we don't buy superstars, we make them.”

And therein began the transformation of the club. Arsene probably knew at that time, that it was going to be very hard for Arsenal to make a high end investment in players. He knew what he had to do. He decided to stay on at Arsenal, inspite of the fact that funds were limited, and chances of silverware bleak. He had to re build his team, and clear this debt. And he set out for doing it in the best way he thought possible, something most Arsenal fans had grown wary of in the past 9 years: investing in raw talent. But in the bigger picture, Wenger knew what he was doing, as most of the fans would agree now I guess.

He did have his fair share of problems with this strategy though. Wenger, during his time had worked with players whose loyalty to Arsenal had been unquestionable. “Mr. Arsenal” Tony Adams, “The non-flying Dutchman” Dennis Bergkamp etc were players who never even thought of playing for any other club. And Arsene, solely because of the class of the people he had worked with, expected everyone he brought into the club to have the same quality. As time would go on to tell, he was, for a change, mistaken.

He brought in youngsters, made them what they are today, but they proved to be nothing more than mercenaries, none more so than Robin Van Persie, (with the exception of Ashley Cole perhaps) who, after being supported by Wenger and Arsenal for 8 injury marred seasons, moved to Manchester United after his first full season at Arsenal. Adebayor, Nasri, Clichy, Ashley Cole, Alexandre Song...the list just kept growing, and Wenger kept losing the core of his team year after year.

Arsene Wenger finally took his team over the line

But Arsene Wenger has to be one of the best managers in the world, simply because of what he managed to achieve during this time of crisis. Players kept leaving, but he somehow managed to keep the team in the top 4 for all these years. A feat which doesn’t seem much at first, but financially, it was imperative in taking Arsenal to the position at which they are now. The importance of the financial aspect of the Champions league in helping Arsenal clear their debt in the past 9 years; cannot be undermined.

During all this time, Arsenal had a profit to show year after year. Although the players kept leaving Arsenal for richer clubs, the silver lining was that Arsene transformed them from nobody to somebody, which meant a huge profit when the player wanted to move to another club. van Persie, who was brought to Arsenal for 5 million pounds, went to United for 24 million pounds. This wasn’t exactly a positive for Wenger, consistently losing his players, but like I said, it was definitely a silver lining.

The 2012-2013 season was where Arsenal really came into the picture for me. Having lost Van Persie to United, Wenger, with finances at his disposal for the first time in years, brought in Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla in the summer transfer window. At the same time, he managed to develop a core of young players: Wilshere, ramsey, Gibbs, Chamberlain, Walcott; who were willing to stay at the club. Arsenal managed a top 4 finish yet again, and now really were a financial superpower.

This became all the more evident with the acquisition of Ozil from Real Madrid for 42.5 million pounds in the summer transfer window next season. Arsenal led a long overdue assault on the title for a major part of the season. They ended the season with 79 points in 4th place, a 6 year high and only 7 points off the top of the table. Key injuries had a major part to play in Arsenal faltering in the later stages of the league.

But Arsenal were no longer an ordinary team. The FA cup was where Arsenal really took center stage and gunned for glory. On their route to the final, Arsenal defeated Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton; so they had every right to be at Wembely. They fought back against a spirited Wigan team, who had just knocked out City, to win 4-2 on penalties after extra time ended on 1-1.

But the final was of a different level altogether. 8 minutes into the final, and Arsenal were 2-0 down. A million gooners all around the globe, me included, were shell shocked, thinking, as we were quite used to thinking, “not again!” It was as if all that buid up to the final meant nothing, that Arsenal were once again going to end the season empty handed, having come so close! And then, astonishingly, Arsenal produced the fightback of a lifetime, in a cup final, at the new Wembley, trailing by 2 goals, to make it 2-2 in the 71st minute!

At that moment, I just knew, that it was written in the stars. Nobody was going to stop Arsenal from ending that 9 year drought. And in the 109th minute, when Ramsey topped off a slick Arsenal move to make it 3-2; my joy knew no bounds. The gooners blew the roof off of Wembley that day! They had done it! 9 years all leading to this moment of pure joy! And there he was, the architect of this victory, not even willing to take center stage, but letting his players bask in the glory. That is what Arsene Wenger is all about. The flak he has taken from the fans in the last 9 years has been unreasonable and unbelievable.

But never did that ever sway him from the job he had at hand. He rebuilt a team out of nothing, and instilled in them the fighting spirit which made them fight back after being 2-0 down. And all he did was smile silently, a job well done, but never quite acknowledging it. Humility is certainly one of the traits that Wenger possesses, which earns him so much respect in th Arsenal fraternity. Seeing Arsene Wenger with a trophy in his hand and an unbridled smile on his face, was quite a sight for sore gooners' eyes!

Now that he has started winning again, I doubt he would want to stop. Brace yourselves gooners, a storm is coming! And with it, a lot of trophies! In Arsene we trust!