I can see the narrative for this final already being written by Lampard and Chelsea fans...

Rich, I accept your point that Cole is a Chelsea employee. But I agree with Top Gun on this one. I found the level of his disappointment that Arsenal won really distasteful.

Fan Group Uproar
Break Transfer Record
Players held up at knifepoint
Emery fired
Out of Europe
Poor league results
Interim manager,then replaced
New Manager appointed
Manager gets Covid,league suspended
finish league,no euro place
Win FA Cup,back in Europe
Couldnt make it up

This sort of of sums up a few things.

To be fair I thought Frank took it like a man. Pointed the finger at his own guys' complacency. As far as injuries go nobody can argue Chelsea got more than their fair share in that match!

To be fair I thought Frank took it like a man. Pointed the finger at his own guys' complacency. As far as injuries go nobody can argue Chelsea got more than their fair share in that match!

If you watch Aubameyang's winner again Zouma does that annoying defender thing is sticking his hands behind his back. I think it doesn't give him the right balance to be able to react when Aubameyang shifts it left.
The laws are partially to blame that penalties have been given for handball when it had clearly been ball to arm, but defenders need to stop doing this both arms behind the back thing. It seriously impedes their mobility. The laws are pretty clear that if a defender has his arms down in a natural position and the ball hits him for a yard or two away it can't ever be considered hand ball.

To be fair I thought Frank took it like a man. Pointed the finger at his own guys' complacency. As far as injuries go nobody can argue Chelsea got more than their fair share in that match!

I'm not sure calling out your own players after losing a cup final is to be admired. Bizarrely, he accused them of playing short passes, like that is some footballing offence. Arteta had his number yesterday.

I heard that Arsenal have won 10% of all the FA Cups ever awarded

Hi Rich. I checked this. The initial FA Cup final was won by a club called Wanderers (not to be confused with Wolverhampton Wanderers as they were from Upper Norwood, London) in 1872. The FA Cup continued until 1915, following which it was suspended due to the First World War.

It resumed again in 1919, with the first post-war final held in 1920. It continued until 1939, following which it was replaced by something called the Football League War Cup due to the Second World War. The FA Cup resumed again in 1945, with the first post-war final being won in 1946. It has continued ever since.

So from 1872 to 1915 there were 44 FA Cups awarded. From 1920 to 1939 there were 20 FA Cups awarded. From 1946 to 2020 there have been 75 FA Cups awarded. So 44 + 20 + 75 = 139. Arsenal have won it 14 times, so 9.93% rounded up, perfectly reasonably, to the 10% you heard.

Be interesting to see that percentage over the last 50 years. And the last 25. We have a tremendous record in the Cup

So 44 + 20 + 75 = 139. Arsenal have won it 14 times, so 9.93% rounded up, perfectly reasonably, to the 10% you heard.

Hi Andy. That’s a nice easy one to do. Over the last 50 years we’ve won it 11 times in 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2020. 11 is 22% of 50.

For the last 25 years everything before our win in 1998 (so from the above list 1971, 1979 and 1993) gets removed from the equation. Leaves us with 8 out of 25, which 32%.

Maitland-Niles is an interesting one for me. Other than Saka I think he's our most talented academy player. He has pace to burn and can hold his own physically. His weaknesses can be (and are) being coached by Arteta. If you asked me a few months ago I would have said sell him and get a decent price. But now I think he has a lot to offer, he's improved a lot since Arteta spelled out his non negotiables to the team.
It might be he is a player the club feel they have to sell if they get a good enough offer, but I think he can be an important player for us. Wing back seems to suit him, especially in this Arteta system where wing backs can come inside to be midfielders. I'm not sure where he gits in a 4-2-3-1 formation quite yet, but plenty of others should leave before him.

What is so frustrating is that Arteta needs just a few more players. If Saliba is as promising as advertised, get him a quality partner he can learn from as well as being effective. A fast, tough DM who can read the game and we are basically in business. We could use more but just as is, and we have a very decent squad. If we got another defender and Partey we would be tough to beat.
It looks like we won't get him but I would have done anything for Upamecano. Holding has gone backwards it seems, enough said about Luiz and Mustafi.
I think Martinelli can lead the line if Aubameyang goes. Not as well obviously but good enough to make us a constant threat. Lets offer Monaco a swap, Özil for Cesc , throw in Mustafi as a sweetener.

More than many of their fans have, some even tried photoshopping version of the Martinez “handball” to show how biased against them the football World is.

Arteta has done well winning the FA Cup but we are far from being a title challenger. We need to give him time, securing a top 4 finish next season would be a step in the right direction - won't be easy. I think we need at least two more seasons of recruiting the right players before we can be a top 4 club again.

I did accept the second booking was wrong with the sending off, but I also mentioned that Aubameyang being pulled down when through on goal could easily have been given as a sending off. Rudiger wouldn’t have got to Aubameyang in time. So the most dodgy decisions arguably went both ways.

The Community shield is on August 29th, the players will be in the middle of pre-season and the seasons doesn't start until Sept 12th. Lots of talk of both teams playing the kids to protect the first team.
Next season will have a ridiculously crammed schedule, even more so now we're in Europa, teams are going to have to manage their squad more carefully than ever.

If the season starts on the 12th, you have to seriously question the decision to play the community shield 2 weeks earlier, given the fact that it would then only just enable a 4 week gap between matches.

Agreed, It is far more than 'a few' we need. We need to have a 4 out of 5 success rate with our transfers over the next 2 or 3 windows. If you look through the squad and count the number of players who could be in a title winning squad and it isn't many, then count how many could be first 11 for a title winning team and its fewer still.
I'm worried there is a lot of expectation being put on Saliba's shoulders to suddenly fix our defence. He's 19, he will need time and patience.

I've been looking over stats, etc, and since '98, we've won 7 out of 8 cup finals. Incredible rate.

Yes but apart from that it was an uneventful season