Defiant ‘dinosaur’ draws on survival instincts

Big managers make big decisions in big games and then they are judged by that wisdom, or lack of it. Big time.

It is the difference between winning and losing.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger went into this Wembley final portrayed as a footballing dinosaur, a creature who had ruled the footballing world without peer for so long but now out of contract and facing extinction.

This was possibly going to be his last big call. With a suspended captain unable to lead his team as chief centre back and his two most expensive defensive signings both out injured, Wenger would have to work a footballing miracle.

Against him was ruthless Italian coach Antonio Conte, the new darling of the English game and a man with the best team in the land, who seemingly had all the tactical answers, while Wenger scratched his baffled old head.

But that would be to disrespect the fact Arsenal’s manager had started reinventing his team and tactics just over a month ago and had turned them into a winning unit once more.

Maybe, if the pigs were flying over Wembley, Arsenal would sneak it, eke it out to penalties or the referee would have a howler and deny odds-on favourites Chelsea the win that would surely be theres?

So much for pundits, experts, former players and know-all football fans! The Arsenal manager had a risky masterplan, though few thought it would involve dropping his in-form number one goalkeeper Petr Cech for the charismatic Colombian David Ospina.

That Per Mertesacker would play, let alone be considered a contender for Man of the Match in his first start of the season seemed even less likely. But it happened - just like that.

Wenger, it transpired, knew his players best and he was rewarded in turn by his men giving their best for him. If only they had done it more often for him is the only damning thought in the wake of this match.

The Arsenal fans looked as surprised as they were delighted – joy unconfined. At the other end of the sunbathed stadium, the Chelsea blues huffed and puffed, boasting about the league title but it seemed little consolation to them on the day.

Arsenal did not just compete with Chelsea from first to last minute with their makeshift line-up, they annihilated them.

But as chance after chance to kill the game off came and went after Alexis Sanchez had fired Arsenal into a deserved early lead, one could sense at Wembley a feeling of expectation from the Chelsea players and supporters.

Surely they would get into their rhythm and Arsenal would run out of steam, seemed to be the vibe?

But that cocksure attitude would prove to be their downfall, for the Wenger Boys were on a mission. Rarely have they run so tirelessly and to a man played to their best in unison, determined to end the season with a trophy for themselves and their manager.

Aaron Ramsey’s second FA Cup Final winning goal of in three years, almost immediately after Diego Costa’s equaliser was wholly deserved. They should and could have had a lot more.

It made this historic victory for Wenger and his players even sweeter.

Historic? No club has won the FA Cup as many times as Arsenal’s 13 victories and Wenger stands alone as the only manager to have won it seven times.

And it could be an even more history-defining match if it proves to be his last in charge after 21 years at the helm.

He will leave his home in leafy Totteridge tomorrow morning to drive to the club’s stadium, which he encouraged Arsenal to build ahead of their rivals, to discuss the prospect of a new two-year deal at the club.

It is fairly well known in the the red half of north London, that he had few allies on the board going into the final, with American owner Stan Kroenke his chief, some say ONLY, supporter.

Wenger has been hurt by what he perceives to be a lack of loyalty from ‘upstairs’ and the supporters to him and his team, which was badly affected in a miserable Premier League campaign by protests in and out of stadia since January.

So it would not come as a surprise if he does announce later this week that he feels his work is done and he leaves. Who can blame him?

And if Kroenke wants to keep him on and he wants to stay, then that will be equally understandable. It would be hard for any manager to turn his back on a job he is wed to with a huge salary and a team that we can now see has the potential to win big again.

Wenger told us this lot was capable of great things, but it was hard to believe him when they showed that so few times over the entire course of this season. Whether or not this does prove to be Wenger’s impressive last stand, only Arsene Knows!