by Joel Abraham

Arsenal's season is over. They won't beat Man United over two legs. The FA Cup was their most realistic chance at a first trophy in four years, but after yesterday's poor performance, it's back to the drawing board.

Arshavin's omission made no sense. Wenger attempted to pack the midfield to stifle Essien, Ballack and Lampard. Chelsea's two goals came from Lampard being given too much time and space on the ball to pick out Malouda and Drogba respectively.

Walcott's goal was lucky. A deflected shot that Cech should've kept out. Arsenal got what they deserved. For all their possession, they created very few chances. Fabregas had a bad game by his standards, Diaby repeatedly gave the ball away, and Adebayor was completely isolated. The side were crying out for the creative, incisive passing of Arshavin, yet his introduction was far too late. 

The makeshift defence coped well for the most part, but Eboue should have stopped Malouda, Silvestre was emphatically beaten for power and pace by Drogba, and Fabianski should've done better with both goals. Kieran Gibbs again looked impressive, setting up the goal, but his double header against Ronaldo will show us if he's really up to scratch.

A familiar sight for Arsenal fans

The game was painfully similar to the Carling Cup final of 2007, with Walcott giving Arsenal an early lead and a late Drogba charge killing off the game. Will Arsenal ever learn to cope with this man? Every season he has single handedly beaten Arsenal: Community Shield 2005, Stamford Bridge 05/06, Carling Cup Final 06/07, Stamford Bridge 07/08, and now we have another game to add to his tally.

Would Almunia and Gallas have fared any better? Take a look at how they dealt with Chelsea's long balls during the league match at Stamford Bridge last season, and the answer is no. Didier Drogba knows he is too good for the Arsenal defence to cope with, and he is many, many times better than any of Arsenal's strikers. 

In short, it seems that Arsenal haven't learned their lesson. After three seasons of constant torment from the big Ivorian, they still can't deal with him. And in that time, Arsenal have failed to win any trophies. Coincidence? Unless they can defend against the world's best, then Arsenal will not win anything.

Rooney, Berbatov and Ronaldo await.

by Joel Abraham

The big question on the lips of every Gooner. Having lost five league games to Fulham, Hull, Stoke, Villa and Man City before the turn of the year, most fans doubted Arsenal would even finish 5th. The Gunners have done well to turn their season around, unbeaten domestically in 2009, and are eyeing up potential FA Cup and Champions League glory.

But at this crucial stage of the season, injuries are coming in thick and fast. The next two games against Villarreal and Chelsea will define Arsenal's season. But can they win them with Fabianski, Silvestre and Gibbs in the side?

Part of Arsenal's success this year has been down to the defence, which has conceded a measly five league goals in 2009. William Gallas has been excellent throughout, getting about his work with a quiet, focused intensity, a marked improvement from the brash, outspoken Gallas of last year. Yet with his season ended by injury, and replacement Johan Djourou injured, Arsenal will struggle.

There are still question marks over why Alex Ferguson was happy to let Silvestre leave to a rival for next to nothing, and the Frenchman was found wanting against Wigan several times. How will he fare against Llorente and Rossi? Drogba? Rooney? Torres? Kieran Gibbs has looked promising, but he has been well and truly thrown in at the deep end. Antonio Valencia gave him a torrid afternoon at the JJB, but in Gibbs' defence, Valencia is one of the better wingers he will have to face. Fabianski has looked confident and assured, but his failure to keep out Mido's shot yesterday and deal with several high balls could be a cause for concern.

So, with the defence looking significantly weaker than it did a week ago, Arsenal will be relying on their free-scoring frontline to compensate. Wenger has opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation over recent weeks, with two holding midfielders (Song and Denilson), three creative players (Walcott, Fabregas, Arshavin/Nasri) and one forward (Bendtner/Adebayor/van Persie). Liverpool have employed a similar setup with much success, but the system is wholly dependent on the creative players supporting the lone striker adequately. The sole source of goals before yesterday was Fabregas' ability to pick out Adebayor with the perfect pass, but it is important to have at least two of the three attacking midfielders supporting every attack. As seen with Walcott's goal yesterday, where the Englishman and Andrey Arshavin were there to pick up Bendtner's flick-on. Alex Song also deserves credit for his transformation from a nervous liability to a bustling, tough-tackling, incisive midfielder, a worthy partner for Fabregas.

Also worth noting is Arsenal's superiority late on in games. The Gunners have tended to come alive after an hour, when opponents high-tempo pressing begins to falter, energy levels drop, and Arsenal's pacy forwards are able to rip teams open on the counter. Don't be surprised to see a dramatic finish to the Villarreal game, and fitness could also be decisive in the FA Cup game, providing Arsenal are still in the game late on.

The odds seem to be against Arsenal claiming silverware based on their defensive frailties. However, if they can hold firm during the first half, they have the ability to score goals against any team in the world.

by Joel Abraham

They say familiarity breeds contempt. Both FA Cup semi finals, like the final, are to be held at Wembley. I'm expecting my ticket in the post shortly, so it's going to be hard to write objectively on this matter, because if the semi final wasn't at Wembley, I probably wouldn't be able to get a ticket. Some still clamour for the old days of Old Trafford and Villa Park hosting the matches, but is this really a better choice?

Put simply, Wembley is big. With a 90,000 capacity, it's the second biggest stadium in Europe. More seats means more fans get the opportunity to go. Also, with Arsenal facing Chelsea, it makes sense for this fixture at least to be played in London, rather than trekking to Cardiff where there are 15,000 fewer seats.

The counter-arguments are numerous. Some say that having the semis at the same venue as the final cheapens the final. A legitimate claim, but this is surely outweighed by the fact that more fans get to go. The FA have also been accused to doing so to cash in on Wembley, but the construction cost so much money that you can't blame them for trying to recoup that. For teams not so close to London, such as Man United and Everton, the travelling may seem unfair, but would they rather a shorter journey and less tickets?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7950507.stm

"I'm not one for crying over spilled milk"

Come on, Phil.

"I'm not going to go tittle-tattling"

Come on, Phil.

Phil Brown appears to losing his grip on reality. He sounds like a madman. Here is a man who is too big for his boots. A man who's spent too long hanging around with Sam Allardyce. Phil, you've outstayed your Premier League welcome.

Hull's early success has gone straight to his head, as if they were the first promoted team in history to catch some of the others off guard at the start of the season. When you look back to his half time teamtalk on the pitch at Eastlands, you start to realise quite how mad Phil Brown really is.

Who does he think he is?

Phil, you're not an eccentric genius like Brian Clough. Please, for the good of the game, just get Hull relegated, get yourself sacked and go and become a Tibetan monk.

Let's get the big controversy out of the way. According to stewards that work in the player's tunnel, a certain club captain did indeed spit towards the feet of a certain assistant manager, but this was apparently in retaliation to being called "a Spanish c**t". Allegedly, Wenger got involved, Phil Brown told Wenger to f**k off, and it's safe to assume that they did not share a post-match bottle of wine.

Supposedly, while the game was still being played, Brian Horton told Wenger to eff off, because he was complaining to the fourth official about Mike Riley's decisions and Hull's timewasting. 

Having said that, one can understand why Wenger would not want to shake the hand of a man who'd been accusing him of cheating. Wenger is not known for displaying great sportsmanship. Brown should be thankful that he didn't get a swift beating - just ask Alan Pardew.

Brown whinged about Mike Riley's decisions being influenced by a partisan crowd. Maybe, but in all honesty it's encouraging to see that the Emirates crowd is actually capable of being vocal enough to change the outcome of a match. The howls of indignation every time Boaz Myhill took his time over a goal kick were no less than he deserved, along with the yellow card. The blatant timewasting began almost immediately after Barmby's goal, and their defensive approach invited so much Arsenal pressure that a comeback seemed inevitable.

There can be no complaints about Hull attempting to play down the clock, such is their prerogative, but it is up to the referee to keep this in check. Now, I've made a personal pledge not to publicly criticise referees, as this seriously undermines the Respect campaign. However, I don't care for Mike Riley, who's display last night was abysmal. In his defence, he seemed to notch up an equal number of flubbed decision for both sides.

As for Gallas' goal, the ball seemed to ricochet off both Myhill and Djourou. Isn't the ref supposed to give the benefit of the doubt to the attacking side? If it came off Myhill, Gallas is onside.

The 5000 empty seats were allegedly due to King's Cross Station closing, but I suspect with the match on TV, alot of people just couldn't be bothered. Wenger and Gazidis ought to be mightily concerned that so many people failed to show interest in a cup quarter final. Had they not signed Arshavin, you wonder how many more would be voting with their feet.

All the above have overshadowed what was a lively FA Cup clash, where Arsenal were forced to work for their win. Hull ultimately paid the price for parking the proverbial bus, and weren't far off adding a second goal. Had they shown a little more ambition, a trip to Wembley was there for the taking. 

Arshavin sparkled yet again, his cool assist for van Persie's equaliser indicating £15m well spent. Bendtner hustled well and gave the Hull defence an absolute raping to create the chance. Kieran Gibbs also put in another good shift. His pace, strength and tenacity ought to be giving Gael Clichy a serious challenge for his first team spot.

Once the bitter taste of last night's shenanigans is gone, we have two tasty-looking clashes in the semis to look forward to.

by Joel Abraham

Some people are never happy. Ask a pundit about the FA Cup, and there'll either be too many or too few big teams in it.

Let's take a look at last year's semi finals:

West Brom v Portsmouth; Barnsley v Cardiff (which yielded a paltry 2 goals)

And this year's: (Arsenal v Hull pending)

Man United v Everton; Arsenal v Chelsea

Which would you rather watch?

How can critics say the FA Cup isn't taken seriously when four of the last five teams in this year's competition are in the top six of the league? They sent out strong teams in the last round and see the FA Cup as a valuable piece of silverware. Just ask Arsenal fans, trophiless since 2005.

Try telling them the FA Cup is worthless

There might be ways to improve the format, each with their own set of problems. Abolish replays? Unfair on the smaller teams, who often rely on them for a much-needed financial boost. Have the lower ranked team play at home? If it becomes the Away Cup for the top five, don't be surprised if they start to see it as more trouble than it's worth. 

The disparity between last year's and this year's final four is testament to the appeal of the FA Cup. The big teams want it, but with a bit of luck, a trip to Wembley is within anyone's grasp. The prestige is still there. Just watch this year's semis and judge for yourself.

by Joel Abraham

After 117 minutes of turgid, boring football, ITV skip to a commercial break in the middle of the match and miss the only goal of the game, a fine solo effort by young Dan Gosling.

Was that deliberate? Opportunism at its worst? Were they trying to cram in a couple of adverts before the shootout began?

They might claim it was accidental (which the subsequent faults may lend credence to) but the fact that they resumed coverage immediately after the goal is mightily suspicious.

One minute I'm watching a football match, the next minute I'm watching that stupid VW advert of a middle aged man in a suit fighting himself, the next minute I'm watching Everton players celebrating. Utterly shambolic.

To compound that, the commentators gave us a half-arsed apology "if you missed the goal". What do you mean, "if"? Every single viewer in the country missed it, there's no "if".

I really hope somebody gets sacked for that. BBC, Sky, Setanta, anybody, save us.