Why it’s a good thing they won

By the time they scored their third goal I was watching the game through the open window of the pub. My interest had gone after they pulled it back to 2-1, it was all too obvious. However, my reaction post game wasn’t.

No anger, no frustration, it was something else. So they won their first trophy for a decade, so we can no longer boast that we have one Carling Cup over them in 10 years, to be brutally honest, I am happy they won. Actually I am delighted. I said it, I mean it. They won. Well done. Congrats.

Of course this needs quantifying. I have never supported Arsenal and I don’t want them to even win a prize in a primary school raffle, let alone the FA Cup, but by winning they have freed us. We can finally let go, we can stop clinging to a solitary Carling Cup win as something to rub in their faces. For too long we have been obsessed with their inability to claim glory and somehow turned this is into a moral victory.

The shoe is now on the other foot and as we have seen already it is a steel toe capped monstrosity of a shoe. Everything we dished out is going to comeback, and to be brutally honest, we deserve it.

[linequote]For too long we have been obsessed with their inability to claim glory and somehow turned this is into a moral victory[/linequote]

As the years ticked by we looked at their lack of trophies and used it to quantify our lack of success. We aren’t wining, but neither are they, life, the situation, everything we are doing is somehow acceptable. As cup competitions would fall by the wayside it was ok, because the same was happening over there. For as long as they never won, we could ignore the fact that we weren’t winning.

The very fact that this was possible is in part due to the fickle nature of the game we watch these days. Everything is short term, the only thing that matters is the moment. So Spurs haven’t won a league title in over half a century?

“Who cares, we have won a cup since they last got one.”

I admit I dipped into to the revelling as Barca, Milan or Bradford knocked them out of the cups, but I was fooling myself. I should have been more concerned with Norwich, West Ham, Basel and other average teams ending our cup runs. Leeds away? Failing to get out of a EL group? West Ham at home, under the lights? Unacceptable, yet made acceptable as they had also failed.

I should have run on the pitch and protested, melted my client card, or at least Tweeted something scathing. Not chuckled when fate dealt them the same card.

“Who cares? We won the Carling Cup in 2008, Arsenal haven’t won anything in this time. What’s the name of that website? Lol.”

The jibe over Arsenal’s lack of trophies aggravates me because we have been wallowing in their lack of success despite not having any of our own to flaunt. Had we been collecting trophies we would have been justified to taunt, but we weren’t. Instead all we did was allow a team who has won more than us in the last 20 years to turn the tables 100 fold. Now that their drought is over, ours comes to light for what it truly is. Three cups since 1991.

[linequote]Finishing above them I admit is a craving of mine, but I would happily finish below them for another decade in exchange for regular silverware[/linequote]

It is the stark reality of that figure that frustrates me the most. Three cups yet a large percentage of our fan-base would rather we didn’t feature in the Europa League or take the League Cup seriously, as it may affect a fourth place finish.

A cup affecting fourth place? Throw away a cup in order to try and be the fourth best team in the country?

It makes no sense. We have mocked them lot for counting fourth as a trophy, but isn’t that what most of us have been doing? Finishing above them I admit is a craving of mine, but I would happily finish below them for another decade in exchange for regular silverware.

Winning cups creates a buzz, it sets a scene, creates a mentality and builds a togetherness amongst the players and the fans. Look at us now, we are broken, had we collected a cup this season perhaps we wouldn’t be. Listen back to The Fighting Cock episodes that featured Mickey Hazard, listen to him talk about his cup finals, that is Tottenham, killing ourselves for fourth isn’t.

If any one doubts what the Europa League means, then I would suggest they re-watch the aftermath of the penalty shoot-out between Sevilla and Benfica. See what it means to them, their fans and staff, look these two teams that gave everything for a cup, Benfica in particular would have sold their soul to win.

I would happily give up our wonderful maiden year in the Champions League for the Europa League trophy last week. The moment we started chasing fourth, is the moment we became like them and I have never wanted to be like them. We need to shake this off, focus on the cups and win something. We are a cup team, not a fourth placed team.

Our history is written with great cup nights, not great league campaigns. Fourth doesn’t give us the fans anything tangible. We can’t celebrate it and we can’t put it on display.

The only place it becomes something tangible, something physical is on the bank statements on Daniel Levy’s desk. That money will never make its way to us or be used to drop prices. Give me a cup all day. Lets make that website redundant.

In the aftermath of last weeks Europa League final in Turin, Ricky from the forum tweeted:

I share these straight to the point sentiments. We don’t live forever, most of us don’t even live as long as we should, I want more cup finals before my time ends. Yes we mocked the Goons for their parade, but an afternoon in the spring sunshine watching the Spurs parade a trophy? That is the way to pass an afternoon.

So congratulations Arsenal, well done for winning the FA Cup and thank you for hopefully spurring on Tottenham to do something similar.