I only get to see Arsenal Ladies occasionally, and sadly this Cup Final was not one that I could make, but it is important to commemorate this event.
The club was formed 21 years ago by Vic Akers who as you know steps down this season.
So far they have won 29 trophies including the UEFA Cup, 3 domestic Trebles, the Premier League 1o times, the League Cup 9 times and with today’s event, the FA Cup 10 times. That includes winning the FA Cup for the last four seasons running.
They also won every single game last season.
The crowds at league matches are small, but this is something we should all be proud of, and we if you ever get a chance to go to a game you should certainly try, in my opinion.
I don’t kid myself that anyone at Arsenal reads anything on the Untold Arsenal blog, but still, just for the record, I’d like to say how much I appreciate everything Vic has done in setting up this time and taking it to the highest levels.
Tony
Hi Tony,
Our ladies team have done exceptionally well in the last few seasons and we need to congratulate both vic n d squad for this.
BTW, on the official site, its mentioned dat this is 31st trophy(http://www.arsenal.com/match-menu/171430/ladies/sunderland-ladies-v-arsenal-ladies?tab=report) and not 29th as you mentioned.. Hope they get the 32nd by beating everton at their home and take revenge for ending our unbeaten run(which is 108 games!!!)..
I agree Tony, it is a magnificent achievement and Vic will be a hard act to follow. I suppose it’s good for the Ladies game that more teams are becoming more competitive, so while it won’t be as easy to dominate, the Arsenal Ladies remain competitive even having lost 7 first team players this season. Unfortunately I’ve only seen the Ladies team play live once and a few times on TV, but they are a very good team and play some good quality football.
it was good to see the match on itv1 today. the ladies bossed the game and fully deserved to win. i’m sure i can see a bit of the ‘arsene’ about them, the way they move the ball about.
The Arsenal Ladies Wikipedia page has them down for over 40 trophies but it includes league cups and some local London Trophies too. Their best moment though has to be 06-07 Women’s UEFA Cup during what was I believe an unbeaten season and a clean sweep of all the domestic trophies.
It is a fine tribute to Vic Akers that even though he lost several key players to the professional women’s league in America they are still on course for double domestic success this year.
One of our ex-players has just been named Monthly MVP for the league.
I have heard lately however that this is Vic Aker’s last season. If that is true I hope that Arsene is extremely careful in choosing his replacement.
Our ladies team is a national treasure.
Iam really feeling nervous about tommorow.. Our boys have to really really fix up the defence if we are to win.. A goal conceded and its game over.. Song who has suprised me the most has become a vital player we need aswell as eboue with good holding and defensive abilities.. Adebayor, Cesc and the DEFENCE in general excluding gibbs need to really sort it out and be on top form.. COMON GUNNERSSS PLEASE DO IT FOR US.. Team for 2mro: Gibbs,Toure,Djourou/Sylvestre?? (We really need a CB:S),Eboue(rb) Midfield Song, Cesc, Nasri and Walcott, Upfront RVP + Adebayor…
Congrats to the Arsenal ladies! Vik done a brilliant Job, sad to see him go.
UP THE GUNNERS
it’s going to take our best performance of the season, perhaps the best performance of the last three seasons, to beat United and make it to the final tonight. Anything less than that and we will fail – it’s as simple as that.
Going into this game I think it’s fair to say that the tie is balanced at around 65-35 in United’s favour. We have to score and they don’t and that means they definitely have an advantage. I’m certain that United’s philosophy going into this game will be to focus on defence but look to hit us with the pace of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo in order to find the away goal. They won’t care when they get it and I just can’t see them coming out with the same intensity that they did at Old Trafford. Our formation won’t allow it and to be perfectly honest, it would play into our hands. In my opinion the best way to trouble United at the back is to play a high-intensity pressing game and target their fullbacks. John O’Shea may have scored the winner in the first-leg but he’s far from a brilliant defender and Patrice Evra is not in the best form at the moment. Pressuring the full-backs will force the United wingers back and that means they become less of a threat on the break. Walcott needs to be going at Evra from the first minute and Nasri, although likely to play slightly more defensively to balance Walcott’s attacking role, needs to work to ensure O’Shea stays pegged back. The key to getting through this tie is to score the first goal. While United will come out with the intention of getting an away goal at any point in the game, leveling the tie will fire up the crowd and massively change the complexion of the game. United will know that any time they push forward they could concede at the back and bagging the first goal might just give us the momentum to go on and win it normal time
Manny Pacquiao in midfield!! He’d even kick Barton’s arse!!
Today is judgement day for our club. We were so lucky that we didn’t get a pasting from United and that it was only 1-0 in the end. We really have to be on top of our game in all departments. Almunia, who has had his critics, was in inspirational form at Old Trafford. When the opposition applaud your keeper, then you know he’s done something right. And he had to be inspirational as our defence was anything but water-tight.
It may sound odd but, with the players we have, playing defensively really doesn’t suit us. In the old days, you could bring on Vivas for Overmars or Edu for Pires or push Lauren upfield. I can’t see how you can do something like that with this team. Now that Gilberto and Flamini have moved on, most of the midfielders are attack-minded. Diaby is great going forward but needs to up his game defensively; Denilson is too inconsistent as is Alex Song, although in our last few games he’s improved – but for how long? We’ve got plenty of creativity in Cesc, Nasri and Arshavin, who is unlucky to be cup-tied as I think he would have made an impact against United.
The Pompey game gave us the opportunity to give the likes of Vela, Ramsey and Djourou a run out and rest the likes of Cesc, Silvestre, Ade, Toure and Nasri. United are chasing the title and didn’t have that luxury as the Scousers are hot on their heels. We looked a bit jaded physically on Wednesday night and our players have had just under a week’s rest to re-charge their batteries.
United’s record in London this season is not particularly great. Defeats to us and Fulham, drawing at Chavski and the Spuds and a narrow win at Upton Park speak for themselves. Rio Ferdinand won’t be 100% and we know Van der Sar can be a bit vulnerable. These are some of the things we must exploit from the word go.
United don’t like it when we come at them with our intricate passing and bursts of pace down the flanks. We also need an early goal – ideally in the first fifteen minutes – so they will have no choice but to come at Arsenal, leaving gaps for us to take advantage of. Also, we fans must make the Emirates a real cauldron of noise. It’s a Champions League SEMI FINAL and God knows if we will ever get to another one after this. We must treat this game as if it’s our last, scream until your lungs get sore and give the lads some extra encouragement. From what I’ve heard, our fans out-sang the ‘Cockney Reds’ that are United fans for long periods at Old Trafford, so more of the same will be needed. We must not give away cheap set pieces near our penalty area and we must frustrate them in all areas of the pitch, as we did back in November, but without conceding the goal. Even if we do go out, at least go out fighting.
I’ve been reading utter rubbish in the papers that Cesc has secretly told friends that he will leave if we don’t win the Champions League this season, and finish empty-handed yet again. What he must remember is that we win as a team and we lose as a team and if we do go out, the whole team must look back and say, ‘What could I have done better?’ This team, with the exception of a few departures, has been together for three years now. Next season, I feel, will be THE season where we MUST deliver silverware.
First of all, Wenger has to take an audit of the squad and move people on but only if we sign adequate replacements first. I think the club should cut their losses on Rosicky if he doesn’t make it through pre-season. We can’t afford to be in a position to wait for him any longer. He’s a great player but if your body tells you ‘no more’, then you have to respect that. We must be productive in the transfer window and have a good pre-season, getting everyone fit and ready and integrating any new players at the earliest opportunity.
C’MON YOU GUNNERS!