City v Arsenal FA Cup semi Final

When spurs spent £100m (after losing their only outstanding player) and simply mirrored the previous season AVB and Sherwood were rightly harshly judged.
The same is true of liverpool losing their outstanding player and doing worse after spending £100m.
Pep lost NONE of his top players (except those HE chose to sell) so kept Debruyner (excuse spelling) Aguero, Silva etc AND spent £170m yet his team is doing no better than under Pellegrini and in the CL worse.
Pointing this out aint bitter and it don't make people jokers for saying it.
If wenger was doing what Pep is doing after spending £170m, I can not see people clambering for him to sign the new contract.
Pep should be viewed on his performance and this year it has been poor.
He might get it right but then so might a **** load of managers if they are given £170m per season to buy who ever they want, weakening their rivals in the process.

 

Pep rightly deserves the **** he gets this season. He's spent a truck load on a squad that has already cost close to ****ing £1bn.

He is finding the PL tough, and that shows the quality of this league

 

Completely agree and am glad it so...I like his football but we do not need our league being so easy to win buy simply out spending others...united and city spendimg £170m each and not challenging for the title is good imho.

 

Agreed fella. And as much as I hate to say it, it's good to see Spurs challenging the likes of the Chelsea, City and the money bags clubs.
You'll always be ****s, but it's good for the league....

 

Ahhhh...that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me

 

I'm all heart.

 

Worth watching for a change!

 

I work on Saturdays so I usually miss our games. This week I've been at a Food festival, Sat and Sunday, so I missed the Semi-Final !
Looking forward to the highlights later though

Great to see Sanchez winning the game for us. He looked pumped after the Boro game. Hoping this week has given him his Arsenal mojo back.

 

Sanchez wasn't that good funnily enough. A peripheral figure for most of the game. Oxlade, Monreal and Gabriel were simply outstanding. The three of them wanted it more than anyone wearing light blue (with the possible exception of Toure, who rolled back the years to single handedly carry City through the last 20 minutes).

That is without question what you have lacked this season - your 'ordinary' players stepping up to the gauntlet and rising to the challenge. Too often it has been left to moments of quality from Sanchez and Ozil or last-gasp hoofball for Giroud to score in the dying minutes.

 

congratulations & hope you put some pressure on Spuds who clearly see you on their rearview mirror now.

 

It was a great performance from Gabriel and I was pleased for the Ox. Sanchez did what was required but I still have concerns about Ozil

 

We can, albeit through a crowd of people. We only know they're there because someone is holding a 'wenger out' sign above everyone else's head

 

Both Ox and Ramsey have said that they players have let Wenger down this season, it's good that they recognise that the standard hasn't been up to what they should be producing. Hopefully at this late stage of the season, they can put that straight, certainly the evidence of the last two games suggests so.

 

I'm surprised the club haven't used the opportunity to announce Wenger's new contract

 

In Extra Time, Ozil twice ran his nuts off into their penalty area, fell on his backside... he took forever to get back up and help the defence on the turn over, Did you see the way Sanchez was waving his arms at Ozil to GTF back, hilarious!

 

I love Sanchez's work ethic and battling mentality. He has brought so much to our game. I hope Ozil took Sanchez's reaction positively...

 

Anyone seen this from Yaya Toure? Not exactly the smartest thing to say before the Manchester derby...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39694245

Funny how there's been so much scrutiny on the officials in this game, yet when we lost to City in December through two offside goals, there was very little noise about the officials then.

For the record, I'm not saying the two offside goals were the reason we lost that game at the Etihad, as not only were both decisions marginal, but we were diabolical in that second half and deserved to lose on the balance of play. At the end of the day though, it's swings and roundabouts.

Nevertheless, City still took the lead in yesterday's game and had the entire second half, plus extra-time, to win the match yet still failed to do it. Seems like sour grapes to me.

 

Funny nobody on here has been willing to give Wenger any credit for changing the formation/shape of the team.

We often accuse him of never changing his tactics. He did and you have to say it paid off.

 

Not sure what the credit is for tbh. You were appalling in the first half and could barely get out of your own box. If anything, him giving licence to Ox and Monreal to get forward more in the 2nd half changed things for you. It was an error-strewn evenly matched game that City lost due to poor finishing and poor defending - problems that have plagued them all season, not just thanks to Wenger. Other than putting in more effort than you usually seem to do, Arsenal didn't exactly set Wembley alight with some genius tactical display.

Credit where it is due. If he manages to outsmart Conte in the final, by all means.