Would the Carling Cup have made a difference?

[DK Gooner]

The Carling Cup made a difference because we got to the final without having to knock-out one of traditional bogey teams along the way. Once we knew our opposition was Birmingham, failure could not be contemplated given the build up of pressure from fans and media on the trophy front. On top of that Wenger's teams are notorious for their inability to bounce back straight away from a crushing defeat. That final considering the games we had coming up was a must win just to maintain momentum.

Our consistency in imploding at the business end of the season is well documented, but the speed of the demise is unusual even by our standards. we may have still been knocked out by Barca and we may still have finished runners up to United in the league, but I'm sure we would have put up more of a contest. Ultimately the loss exposed Wenger's methods more than his players and in a way that could be a good thing. A victory may have only papered over the cracks and allowed his policies to continue unfettered for at least another season. Now he has less place to hide and as he's not going to jump, he will sacrifice some of those players who he kept faith in much to our chagrin.

Therefore the Carling Cup has made a difference - negative effect in the short term, but quite possibly ensuring that positive change is made (rather than merely required) in the summer.

 

[progman07]

Yes, it probably would have. Instead of a lot people saying we suck and are bottlers, they would be saying we suck, are bottlers, and the proof of this is that all we won was the MM Cup.

You need a long deep breath and then repeat 100 times: "other fans might not be as stupid as I believe". People don't say we bottled things, because they are all clueless. I don't know what name you have for what we have done, but others use "bottling" for it, I'm not a native English speaker, I dunno if that's a right word for it , but I guess it is.


I think we could have won the league, with the boost of winning the Carling Cup. It's not like Man Utd showed so much strength, they are worse than ever, and we could have capitalised, had we not ****ed it up so hard in the last two months.

 

[Emma Lusa]

The Carling Cup would have made a huge difference with the Press and the fans. No longer "six years and counting" no longer perennial losers and even if we had fallen to Barca and Utd away, hardly a surprise for any side to do that, the fact we had already won a trophy would have seen the fans happy. That single defeat has brought about the wave of anti Arsenal and anti Arsène that you see almost every day. Dose anyone believe this doesn't effect the players?

 

[Anzac]

The Carling Cup made a difference because we got to the final without having to knock-out one of traditional bogey teams along the way. Once we knew our opposition was Birmingham, failure could not be contemplated given the build up of pressure from fans and media on the trophy front. On top of that Wenger's teams are notorious for their inability to bounce back straight away from a crushing defeat. That final considering the games we had coming up was a must win just to maintain momentum.

Our consistency in imploding at the business end of the season is well documented, but the speed of the demise is unusual even by our standards. we may have still been knocked out by Barca and we may still have finished runners up to United in the league, but I'm sure we would have put up more of a contest. Ultimately the loss exposed Wenger's methods more than his players and in a way that could be a good thing. A victory may have only papered over the cracks and allowed his policies to continue unfettered for at least another season. Now he has less place to hide and as he's not going to jump, he will sacrifice some of those players who he kept faith in much to our chagrin.

Therefore the Carling Cup has made a difference - negative effect in the short term, but quite possibly ensuring that positive change is made (rather than merely required) in the summer.

I agree, although judging by the responses here it would appear that most regard it as yet another case of the player's failure moreso than AW.

 

[HollandGooner]

The carling cup isnt a big price, and YES its a prize wich we havent won since 2006, but if we would have won it, I dont believe in things like we would have been in the title race still.

 

[AnthonyG]

...
I think we could have won the league, with the boost of winning the Carling Cup. It's not like Man Utd showed so much strength, they are worse than ever, and we could have capitalised, had we not ****** it up so hard in the last two months.

Yes, yes, the point I made is that if we had have won it and still dropped out of all else like we seem to have done, the only difference it would have made is that it was only the CC which is the prevalent attitude anyway. Yeah, I speculate. Just like most everyone else.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

When we lose the carling cup final you see our performance after this final our performance was so **** until the last game vs spuds we cant defend i just remember the game vs barca at emirates we was defending good and now i see the game vs spuds we defending bad i just want to know what the **** happend to our players

of course the won of the carling cup will make the difference

 

[SA Gunner]

The Carling Cup fumble, not even the game, was huge. That moment where Chesney and Koscielny had their moment has basically summed up the first team for this season imo. That of a very insecure team who needs constant reinforcement as to its true ability.

All is not lost though, Shane Warne was a similar character, one who needed constant reinforcement to allow him to do the amazing things he did. And he did so well because he was surrounded by the right people.

Had we converted the Carling Cup, we would have won the league and we would have knocked out Barca too. This is the power of a strong mental approach and the value of self belief. That fumble brought along with it immense self doubt and we saw that unfold in the weeks that followed.

Going forward, we will know where we stand by September 1st. If we have the same setup as we have now we will suffer again, no matter what happens. No, Im not a genius or a fortune teller. I merely see our biggest crutch and dont see it being addressed time after time.

 

[AnthonyG]

Had we converted the Carling Cup, we would have won the league and we would have knocked out Barca too. This is the power of a strong mental approach and the value of self belief. That fumble brought along with it immense self doubt and we saw that unfold in the weeks that followed.

This is why it's hard to take this thread seriously and some of the comments made in it.

 

[silent_shadow]

It's possible it could've given us that metal edge and belief we needed, but I can easily imagine us having won the Carling Cup and still collapsed afterwards in exactly the same way we have in all other competitions.

 

[progman07]

...
I think we could have won the league, with the boost of winning the Carling Cup. It's not like Man Utd showed so much strength, they are worse than ever, and we could have capitalised, had we not ****** it up so hard in the last two months.

Yes, yes, the point I made is that if we had have won it and still dropped out of all else like we seem to have done, the only difference it would have made is that it was only the CC which is the prevalent attitude anyway. Yeah, I speculate. Just like most everyone else.

You are right, that we'll never know.

 

[SA Gunner]

Had we converted the Carling Cup, we would have won the league and we would have knocked out Barca too. This is the power of a strong mental approach and the value of self belief. That fumble brought along with it immense self doubt and we saw that unfold in the weeks that followed.

This is why it's hard to take this thread seriously and some of the comments made in it.

I take it you have a good idea about what would and would not have happened then :roll:

People seem to forget that despite our "shocking" performance against FCB we were a Bendtner goal away from progressing. Im saying that with the momentum I believe we would have gone onto do some good things as this is what we are about primarily.

There is a reason why we did so well from the Chelsea wins up to the Brum final, there is a reason why we remain unbeaten in the league up to this point. The make up of our performances is very much based on previous ones and thus it provides a great marker going forward.

 

[AnthonyG]

I take it you have a good idea about what would and would not have happened then :roll:

Not really, but I don't bandy about past contrary to fact as the indicative mood re: the league, let alone Barse, as if I did. So put your eyes back in your head. Losing Djouou and Sneezy when we did are also, more tangible, factors.

 

[SA Gunner]

I take it you have a good idea about what would and would not have happened then :roll:

Not really, but I don't bandy about past contrary to fact as the indicative mood as if I did. So put your eyes back in your head. Losing Djouou and Sneezy when we did are also, more tangible, factors.

<a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion</a>" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It seems you not familiar with this concept, some afternoon reading for you then

 

[dpt49]

The only consolation of not winning the CC is that Wenger cannot use it to prove his project is working.
The same could be said if we only achieve 3rd spot.
There has been no significant improvement this season, in fact some players have regressed, the usual players mentioned on here, Denilson, Diaby, Song, Almunia etc

You cannot blame not winning the CC on the failure to win other competitions, leave that to Wenger.

At some point he has to take responsibility and stop making excuses.

We had the chance to win the CC, the fact we didn't proves that we did not have the required winning mentality.
Birmingham clearly did, and consequently won it

 

[AnthonyG]

It seems you not familiar with this concept, some afternoon reading for you then

wiki? Oh dear, I'd rather read tea-leaves.

 

[OohtobeaGoonerGal]

I believe it would have, yes. It would also automatically mean that our season would not take the same path that it had done over the years in terms of being knocked out of everything. This time we would have made it to the end of one thing, and there's no telling that the team would react to the rest of the season the way they would've done when they were just used to constant failure.

 

[fabo]

Don't think it would have made a difference really.

No reason to think we would have broke Sunderland, Liverpool or Blackburn down because we won a cup weeks beforehand. Likewise with our defending against Liverpool, Sp**s.

 

[GaelForce22]

Possibly, but they're still the same players. The Newcastle game came after beating Chelsea and the lift that gave us, the CC final after beating Barca etc. Obviously it would have been a lot more comforting to have finished the season with a trophy though.

 

[squallkid]

At least we would have won a trophy and gotten that monkey off our backs.


Tensions and emotions wouldn't be running as high if we had won the Carling Cup and we all would probably be looking forward to next season and hoping the boys would push on to further glories.