Arsenal's players are on a mission. They care not about the eroded reputation of the Carling Cup. To them, it remains a trophy, which is not something too many of them have won in the colours of their club and it is one they feel can provide not only glory next month but also serve as a catalyst.
We hear seasoned professionals talk at length about the need for a winning mentality and, for all their beauty, the accusation can be levelled at Arsenal that they have not yet found a way to embrace it. This is why they have fallen short in the grandest tournaments in recent years.
The players are conscious of it and the hunger to win something eats away at them. It is epitomised in Cesc Fábregas, the captain, whose frenzied celebration after his goal here would not have looked out of place in the World Cup final. The players have vowed to end the wait this season and, in the second half, the sheer force of their collective eventually wore Ipswich Town down and propelled Arsenal to their first final since 2007.
The scenes at full-time told their own story. Never mind that it was a team from the lower reaches of the Championship who had been overcome. As Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up hit the spot, Arsenal's players embraced and made tentative moves towards a lap of honour. A few of them threw their shirts into the crowd.
West Ham United or Birmingham City will provide the opposition in the final and Arsenal will be the strong favourites. If they can remove the monkey from their backs, they will believe that anything is possible at the business end of the season. "I believe that more than anything, it [winning the Carling Cup] can get the pressure off the team to deliver in the other competitions," said the manager, Arsène Wenger. "We have bigger targets but it can help us achieve our other targets. The players were really up for it. You could see in Cesc's attitude that he is really hungry."
Wenger continued to give the impression that he only wants to win the Carling Cup to shut up those who complain about the club's lack of silverware. He repeated his view that it is more difficult to finish in the Premier League's top four. The league and the Champions League are the trophies that matter to him.
But he caught the mood of the dressing-room here to field an intimidating starting line-up. He picked eight of what currently represents his strongest side and, for good measure, he introduced two more, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, as substitutes once the tie was safe. "With those two coming on, I almost think the game should be handicapped," smiled the Ipswich manager, Paul Jewell.
The script was written for Arsenal's superstars to blow away their lowly rivals but Ipswich had not read it. As the travelling support mocked Fábregas's spurious claim that they were a rugby team, Jewell's men demonstrated that they carried no inferiority complex. It was their work-rate and intensity that impressed. For an hour, they held firm.
Andrey Arshavin was once again a major disappointment for Arsenal while Denílson lacked the tempo in his passing, which is a sin in this Arsenal team. Yet driven on by Fábregas, they got the job done. Nicklas Bendtner showed shades of Cristiano Ronaldo with the jink inside that preceded his sumptuous finish while even Arshavin dug out the assist for Fábregas. It was not a vintage Arsenal performance but the result meant everything. The same will be true at Wembley.
Source: David Hytner, The Guardian on 25 Jan 11
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