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Anonymous User
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As Arsenal prepare for their London Derby against West Ham at the Emirates Stadium tonight, they could be forgiven for thinking that the whole world’s against them. After the weekend they've just had you can hardly blame them.

Arsenal celebrate winning the FA Cup semi-final.

Celebrating on the Wembley pitch after defeating Wigan Athletic to get through to the FA Cup Final was somehow depicted as a sign of losers by some delusional characters.  In a parallel universe in which football punditry exists, winning a game of football should be met with a firm handshake of the vanquished, a nod of acknowledgement to the crowd before jumping into an ice cold bath! Citing the fact that a big club like Arsenal should expect to beat a bunch of no-hopers from the Championship is not only disingenuous but is embarrassingly uninformed.

This opinion was given in a vacuum of context in regards to the fact that Wigan were the current cup holders and had already beaten three Premiership teams, including the ‘great’ Manchester City, on their run to the semi-final. Arsenal had struggled to break down a well organised team set up to defend and looking to break on the counter but the beauty of the FA Cup is that it possesses a magic unpredictability and that’s why we love it. The Gunners left it late but rescued the game with a late equaliser and eventually kept their nerve to win the match on penalties.

Steven Gerrard shows how much winning a game of football means to him. Lukasz Fabianski shows what winning a game of football means to him.  

While not the best game to watch it was nevertheless dramatic and the published viewing figures of approximately 10.9 Million for the penalty shoot-out showed that the FA Cup is still a big pull. In such circumstances, why would anyone denigrate a team for showing passion for winning, especially for a club that most people like to class as a bunch of mentally-weak losers. Something strange is afoot when the very next day Stevern Gerrard is lauded for showing his emotions on the pitch after Liverpool beat the ‘great’ Manchester City but, like Arsenal, still need to finish the job and win a trophy? While this is cited as leadership and passion for the game, Arsenal are pilloried for doing exactly the same for reaching the most famous club cup competition in the world.

Don’t get me wrong, selfies on the pitch is taking the art of the football celebration a little too post-modern for my taste and Arsenal were at it again on Saturday, but Hull players were doing the same the very next day. The difference seems to be that there is a whole media narrative, dare I say industry, which has been built on the fact that Arsenal have not won a trophy for almost a decade. Meanwhile Everton, a club that is historically similar to Arsenal in prestige and size, has not won any silverware since the 1995 FA Cup. This is an Everton who are currently the mainstream media’s particular flavours of the month, as they look to usurp Arsenal for the final Champions League place.

Even if Arsenal end their trophy hoodoo but end up getting edged by Everton in the league, then no doubt the pundits will continue to beat them with the ‘loser’ stick they have become so accustomed to using. Unfortunately for the ‘boo boys’ in the studio, they will probably have to reset their biased agenda when Wenger wins his 5th FA Cup in May and guides Arsenal to their 17th consecutive year in the Champions League. Oh and they have a great stadium too!