Fabregas puts Gunners through

Cesc Fabregas came off the bench to net another late penalty as ten-man Arsenal laboured into the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 victory over League One Huddersfield at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners - who made sweeping changes from the midweek Carling Cup semi-final win over Ipswich - took the lead when Nicklas Bendtner's angled shot deflected off Terriers skipper Peter Clarke on 22 minutes.

However, influential midfielder Samir Nasri limped off with a hamstring problem, which could yet rule him out of the Champions League showdown with Barcelona, before Sebastien Squillaci was shown a red card by referee Mark Clattenburg for blocking Jack Hunt's surging run.

Alan Lee headed a deserved equaliser for the Terriers, but Fabregas won it from the spot after Jamie McCombe was adjudged to have pushed Bendtner over.

The Premier League title challengers were on top soon after kick-off. Bendtner, who netted a superb goal to open the scoring against Ipswich in midweek, charged into the right side of the Huddersfield penalty area. The ball eventually broke to Andrey Arshavin at the far post, but the out-of-sorts Russian blasted his shot high into the stands.

Arshavin continued to see plenty of possession, and cut in from the left before his low centre across the six-yard was turned just wide by Bendtner, while an angled shot was pushed onto the outside of the post by veteran keeper Ian Bennett.

A stray pass from Squillaci suddenly set Kevin Kilbane clear, but as he played in Lee, Laurent Koscielny got across to cover.

Arsenal took the lead on 22 minutes via a deflection. Bendtner collected the ball on his chest before charging toward the right side of the penalty area, where he fired in an angled drive which ricocheted off Clarke and flew into the bottom corner.

Huddersfield immediately went on the offensive and it needed a deft touch from Squillaci to poke the ball away from Lee as he looked set to net after a low ball into the Arsenal penalty area from the right by Anthony Pilkington.

There was concern for Arsenal when Nasri pulled up holding his hamstring after chasing a long drop-kick from Almunia. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was taking no chances, immediately replacing the French playmaker with Tomas Rosicky.

It should have been 1-1 on 38 minutes when former Aston Villa midfielder Joey Gudjonsson floated a high ball into the Arsenal penalty area, which eluded the centre halves and dropped for Pilkington, but he headed wide.

There was then high drama when Squillaci was shown a red card, adjudged last man by Clattenburg, after he blocked Hunt following a surging run from the Terriers defender, which had started in his own half. With no other defensive cover on the bench, striker Marouane Chamakh was sacrificed as Alex Song came in alongside Koscielny for the second half.

Arshavin was played clear by Rosicky down the left channel and took the ball into the area before stabbing it into the side-netting.

Arsenal were forced to be both patient and cautious as Huddersfield looked to get forwards themselves at every opportunity.

Arshavin made a brave sliding challenge at the near post to take the ball away from Gudjonsson as he shaped to shoot. The Terriers refused to lay down as they were cheered forwards by their army of supporters packed behind Almunia's goal.

McCombe glanced a header just wide and then Almunia made a brilliant save at full stretch to push behind Lee's header, which look destined for the bottom-left corner.

The equaliser, though, eventually came on 66 minutes when Lee crashed in a bullet header from Pilkington's corner as the Clock End erupted in a sea of blue and white.

With 21 minutes left and Wenger desperate to avoid a replay, Abou Diaby was replaced by Fabregas, whose last-gasp spot-kick had kept his side in their third-round tie here against Leeds.

Bendtner sent a header just over as suddenly Arsenal found some fluency again. The Gunners were handed a reprieve with five minutes left when Bendtner went down in the box under what looked minimal contact from McCombe, who received a yellow card.

Fabregas stepped up to send the 'keeper the wrong way and once again save his team's blushes.

Source: ESPN Soccernet on 30 Jan 11

Cesc Fábregas seals Arsenal victory over Huddersfield from the spot

The FA Cup demonstrated its enduring flair for romance, as it threatened to make heroes of League One Huddersfield Town and, in particular, the journeyman striker Alan Lee. But when the dust had settled, it was its capacity for cruelty that provided the over-riding emotion.

Lee Clark's players had covered themselves in glory by stretching Arsenal to the limit and when Lee conjured the equaliser, it was easy to see Town going on to win or, at the very least, holding out for the replay, such was the exuberance of their football. It was Lee's first goal for the club on his 26th appearance after his £500,000 summer transfer from Crystal Palace. Talk about timing.

Arsenal had been reduced to ten men by the 42nd-minute dismissal of Sébastien Squillaci for a cynical block on the debutant Jack Hunt, who was one of the many to epitomise Town's fearless approach. Squillaci will be suspended for Tuesday night's Premier League fixture at home to Everton, although the manager Arsène Wenger said that the setback would not accelerate his search for central defensive cover. He does not expect to make a signing before the transfer deadline.

The situation after Lee's goal compelled Wenger to bring on Cesc Fábregas and, not for the first time, the captain dug his team out of a hole. Only four minutes remained when Nicklas Bendtner got the wrong side of Jamie McCombe inside the area and he went down when the defender put an arm around him.

The penalty award felt slightly soft but Clark had no complaints. "As soon as I saw Bendtner go down, I thought it was a penalty," he said.

Fábregas stepped up and, after a stuttering run, he sent the goalkeeper Ian Bennett the wrong way. He had scored Arsenal's last-minute equaliser from the spot as a substitute in the previous round against Leeds United to force the replay and his team once again made heavy weather of opposition from Yorkshire.

The Spaniard won himself no friends by gesturing for McCombe to be sent off – the defender, who was the last man, escaped with a yellow card – and, moments later, Fábregas was booked himself for ungentlemanly conduct. He can sometimes blot his copybook by becoming embroiled in petty spats.

"Cesc thought it was a red card [for McCombe]," Wenger said. "We had a player sent off so the same punishment should occur, although in the box, I am personally more lenient than outside."

Arsenal had started brightly, creating plenty of chances, and they fashioned the opening goal midway through the first-half. It was not without good fortune. Bendtner was still stewing about miscuing a volley moments earlier and being ridiculed by the Town support when he fastened on to a through ball from Marouane Chamakh. He struck a low shot that was heading wide but a deflection off the Town captain Peter Clarke brought it back inside the far corner.

It had to go down as an own goal but Bendtner nevertheless opted to get his own back on the 5,000 travelling fans by running in front of them and cupping his hand to his ear. It was not the classiest thing to do.

Clark could be proud of the football that his team played. They established a foothold and they began to create chances, none better than the free header for Anthony Pilkington in the 39th minute that he glanced wide. Arsenal were unconvincing at the back.

The red card followed further positive Town play. The right-back Jack Hunt surged past the disappointing Kieran Gibbs and inside Laurent Koscielny and he might have got past the last man Squillaci, too, if it were not for the body check. Wenger claimed that the decision was "harsh" but it was difficult to agree with him.

The second-half was golden for Town and the equaliser had been advertised. Andrey Arshavin needed to make a last-ditch tackle on Gary Roberts; McCombe glanced inches wide and Lee's header forced Manuel Almunia into a flying finger-tip save. From the ensuing corner, the excellent Joey Gudjonsson shot just past the post.

Arsenal were clinging on. There did not seem to be two divisions between the clubs and Town's moment came when Lee tussled with Abou Diaby at a corner before getting up to thump a header past Almunia.

Yet Arsenal would rally and the penalty broke Town hearts. They surely deserved better.

Source: David Hytner, The Guardian on 30 Jan 11

Wenger's reaction to the Arsenal 2-1 Huddersfield Town match

On a tough Cup tie...
It was tough, tough, tough, because it had all the ingredients of a typical cup game. We played a little bit below par and Huddersfield is a good team, they have shown that today. They were efficient, they are always dangerous on set-pieces and crosses, they scored on a set-piece. It had the ingredients of a cup game as well because we were down to ten men so it became very difficult. In the end we had the quality just to make the difference and in the final 25 minutes I felt we had room to score goals. But we play so many games at the moment that sometimes we are not as sharp as we would want to be. That is what happened today.

On Squillaci's red card...
I found it harsh but you can give it or not give it. It was a foul, it didn't look to me like an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Is he the last man? I am not sure as well. But I feared the red card and unfortunately he gave what I feared.

On the fatigue factor...
We looked a little bit tired today but hopefully before Tuesday we can recover and the good thing is that when you win you recover quicker. I had as well some players who did not play at all today who will be fresh but of course we have only 48 hours.

On the punishment for McCombe's foul in the box...
We had a player sent off so we thought the same punishment should occur. In the box I am a little bit more lenient than outside the box, personally. I think Fabregas thought it was a red card. Ideally it is for the referee to make the decision, I think he made the right one.

On never losing to lower league opposition in the FA Cup...
Never. It shows you how seriously we take the competition. Despite that, my commitment to the FA Cup is always questioned. I feel that in my whole career we did well against lower divisions but today at 1-1 I must say that record was really under threat because on set-pieces Huddersfield looked always like they could score. They had a few chances on crosses.

Source: Arsenal.com on 30 Jan 11

30 January 2011: Arsenal 2-1 Huddersfield Town, The Emirates

Once again, a late spot-kick from Cesc Fabregas proved to be Arsenal’s salvation in the FA Cup on Sunday.

In the Third Round, the Spaniard came off the bench to slot home a last-gasp equaliser from 12 yards against Leeds. This afternoon, the captain saw off Huddersfield with a penalty four minutes from time.

Suffice to say, it was a huge relief for everyone - bar the 9,000 visiting fans - at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal had started well and deservedly took the lead through Nicklas Bendtner’s deflected drive midway through the first half. But Huddersfield defied the 45 places that separated the two sides in the ladder of English football. They pressured the home team and, after Sebastien Squillaci had been dismissed for hauling down Jack Hunt, fully merited Alan Lee’s leveller in the 66th minute.

That Fabregas finale was a blessed relief. After a historically busy January, the last thing Arsenal needed was another replay.

Their Sunday was also blighted by a hamstring injury to Samir Nasri.

But at least they are through in the FA Cup.

It was a day of comebacks for Arsenal. Manuel Almunia started his first game since the 3-2 defeat to West Brom just over four months ago. The Spaniard had been sidelined by an elbow injury and then, just as he was about the return, he had badly damaged his ankle.

Abou Diaby was also back for his first game since the 2-2 draw at Wigan on December 29. He had been suffering from a calf injury. Squillaci, returning himself from a hamstring problem, had scored a late own goal at the DW Stadium that night. He had only played one game since then – the Third Round tie against Leeds. In addition, Tomas Rosicky was back after three weeks out with sickness but he only made the bench.

This was Arsenal’s ninth game in January - a club record – so the remainder of Wenger’s changes were the usual ‘shuffling’.

Emmanuel Eboue, Kieran Gibbs and Marouane Chamakh all returned after starting as substitutes against Ipswich in midweek. Bacary Sagna was missing after collecting a head injury during that game but Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Wojciech Szczesny and Jack Wilshere were available yet left on the bench. Gael Clichy and Johan Djourou were omitted entirely.

Huddersfield were without Benik Afobe. Unlike Sanchez Watt in the last round, the on-loan Arsenal striker was not eligible play. The Yorkshire side filled their ticket allocation at Emirates Stadium. In recent weeks, that sort of support had become a regular and welcome sight in North London.

Arsenal had been lethargic against Leeds in the Third Round tie at the start of the month. But they started much better this afternoon.

After three minutes Arshavin hacked a shot over the bar having been set up but Bendtner’s persistence.

In the 12th minute, the Russian returned the favour but the Dane bundled it wide from close range.

Arsenal were attacking at will with Arshavin getting on the end of most of the good work. However, by Wenger’s own admission, the 29-year-old is not at his sharpest right now.

In the 20th minute, Nasri’s chipped a cross-field pass to Bendtner on the right of the area. He hung out a lame leg and dribbled a shot at keeper Ian Bennett. It drew the derision of the visiting fans.

A minute later, Bendtner cupped his ear to the same supporters in celebration after controlling a similar pass from the Frenchman and firing home. However he did receive a helpful deflection from the sliding Peter Clarke.

Huddersfield had conceded an early goal, usually a nightmare scenario at Emirates, but they were never going to lie down today.

Almost immediately, Anthony Pilkington fired over a dangerous low cross from the right and Lee just failed to add the finishing touch at the near post.

Then, just before the half-hour, Denilson handed the ball straight to Lee who fed Pilkington on the right once more. His low shot flashed across the area and just beyond the far post.

It was proper pressure alright but Arsenal still had all the class. Arshavin shoveled a backheel into the path of Bendtner whose angled drive was smothered messily at the near post by Bennett.

Then, the home side suffered a blow. Nasri pulled up under no pressure holding his hamstring and immediately called for attention. He was replaced by Rosicky – numerically and as captain - before going down the tunnel immediately. With big games coming up in the next month, it was a worrying sign.

The Frenchman’s departure seemed to affect Arsenal and they nearly conceded twice before half-time. First, Pilkington ghosted in and headed wide from Joey Gudjonsson’s cross then the Icelander drifted a cross just wide.

Then three minutes from the whistle Arsenal were hit by another blow. Hunt burst through and was bundled over by Squillaci. The Frenchman was the last man and referee Mark Clattenburg had little option but to administer a red card.

It was Arsenal’s seventh dismissal of the season but Squillaci’s first in five years.

Denilson covered the centre back role until the break but that was never a longer-term option.

With Djourou missing, Song was the only solution on the bench. The issue was which player made way. In the end, Chamakh got ‘hooked’ at half-time.

But it was now a different game.

Yes, Arshavin drove a shot into the sidenetting in the opening seconds however Huddersfield dominated the third quarter of the game. They smelt weakness in Arsenal and went for the jugular.

In the 55th minute, Arshavin tracked back and got a crucial toe-poke to the ball as Gudjonsson seemed set to score.

Then Jamie McCombe and Lee went perilously close with headers - the second of which brushed the post.

Almunia made a brilliant save from the latter on the hour; clawing the ball from behind him like David Seaman had down so famously against Sheffield United in the Semi-Final eight years ago.

But Huddersfield had built up a head of steam now and a goal seemed be coming.

It arrived in the 66th minute when Lee thundered home a header from Pilkington’s corner.

Wenger’s response was to bring on Fabregas for Diaby. Arsenal’s response was to go close twice. First, Koscielny’s drive was blocked and, when the ball was returned, Bendtner nodded inches over the bar.

The Dane cracked a drive over shortly afterwards – as did Arshavin. It seemed that Arsenal had steadied themselves.

With 10 minutes left, Denilson pulled up in similar fashion to Nasri. With all their substitutes made, Arsenal would have been left with nine men if the Brazilian was forced off.

After treatment he hobbled on but did not seem to be 100 per cent right.

Strangely, Huddersfield had taken their foot off the gas after their goal and allowed Arsenal back into the tie.

Four minutes from time, they were made to regret it when Bendtner appeared to be hauled down by McCombe and Fabregas steered home the penalty.

In the final stages, the captain was happy to hold the ball in the corner and kill time. Meanwhile the home fans applauded Huddersfield off the pitch.

They had pushed Arsenal to the limit this afternoon and a side with less mental fortitude would have buckled.

But Wenger’s men are better than that this term.

Source: Richard Clarke, Arsenal.com on 30 Jan 11

Gunners look to secure immediate passage

Arsenal will want to avoid another replay against lower league opposition when they welcome Huddersfield Town to Emirates Stadium on Sunday lunchtime.

The Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw by Leeds United in the third round, meaning they faced a midweek away trip to Yorkshire. The same outcome again would add an unwanted additional fixture just a week before Barcelona travel to London for the first leg of the first round of the Champions League knockout stage.

Leeds United were, on paper, a much stiffer test and Huddersfield are not expected to be capable of producing a similar performance. The Terriers are well positioned for a promotion push from League One, currently sitting in third place and only behind AFC Bournemouth and an automatic spot on goal difference.

Managed by former Newcastle United, Sunderland and Fulham midfielder Lee Clark, the Terriers play some of the best football in League One but have a very average defence - something which will make it even harder to keep Arsenal's star-studded forward line at bay.

Though now considered to be one of the game's minnows, they were just the opposite after being formed in 1907 and winning the FA Cup in 1922. In 1923-24 they won their first ever league title and went on to become the first club to be crowned champions three years in a row - a feat only matched by Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United since. But they have not won a major honour since the league title of 1926.

Arsenal have obviously had much recent success up until 2005, and they will look to move a step closer to another Wembley date after securing their place in the Carling Cup final on Tuesday.

Arsenal player to watch: Andrei Arshavin
Russian playmaker Arshavin is going through troubled times at Emirates Stadium. A complete loss of form has seen him become the subject of the fans' frustrations after once being a crowd favourite. Arshavin needs to put his poor form, and rumours of a move away from Arsenal, to the back of his mind and impress on the pitch again.

Huddersfield Town player to watch: Anthony Pilkington
A creative influence with an eye for goal, Pilkington has already provided 11 goals and three assists for the Terriers this season. Chances are likely to be few and far between for the visitors, so Pilkington's excellence in shooting from distance could be a vital weapon.

Key battle: Marouane Chamakh v Peter Clarke
Huddersfield skipper Clarke will be charged with keeping Chamakh at bay with the Moroccan likely to return to the starting line-up with Robin van Persie rested. Chamakh has lost his form and not started a Premier League game this year, with his last goal coming against Aston Villa in November. Clarke, Huddersfield's Player of the Year last season, will be making sure Chamakh's scoring touch does not return.

Trivia
Herbert Chapman turned Huddersfield into a force in the early 1920s before leaving the club to manage Arsenal. He then led the Gunners to their first ever trophy in 1930 - beating Huddersfield 2-0 in the FA Cup final.
 
Source: Dale Johnson, ESPN Soccernet on 30 Jan 11

Rewind to 1930: Chapman establishes Arsenal legacy

On Sunday, Arsenal play Huddersfield in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Superficially, very little unites the London Premier League giants and the Yorkshire club from League One, but they have a common denominator in one of football's most influential figures. It was Herbert Chapman who established Huddersfield as football's pre-eminent force in the 1920s, before repeating the feat with Arsenal in the 1930s. He secured Arsenal's first trophy in 1930 with a victory against his former side in the FA Cup final.

The bronze busts of two Arsenal managers adorn the marbled directors' entrance at Emirates Stadium. One depicts Arsene Wenger, a man who transformed the club in 1996, with his new approaches to fitness and professionalism rippling through the Premier League. But for all his revolutionary impact, Wenger is not the man who brought modernity to Arsenal and the wider English game. That honour falls to the man across the hall from him, Herbert Chapman. He was a peerless innovator, a man who oversaw a tactical transformation that would reverberate around the globe, and the iconic figure who constructed Arsenal's first great side in the 1930s. Wenger is a veritable Luddite in comparison.

Chapman was a tactical pacesetter, creating the WM formation in 1925, and changed the way systems and strategies were imparted to players in a time when tactical coaching was rare. According to contemporary reports, "[Chapman] did his sides the inestimable service of making them think about the game and the results of his teachings were obvious on the field of play." He was also a visionary off the pitch, as he pushed for foreign tours and, to no avail, urged the Football Association to adopt shirt numbers and utilise floodlights.

At Arsenal, he introduced the Highbury clock, added white sleeves to the shirt and fought for Gillespie Road tube station to be renamed Arsenal. At Huddersfield and then Highbury, he was the inspiration behind two hat-tricks of title victories, a feat that has been achieved only twice since. Quite simply, Chapman was the man who made Arsenal a force in the English game, and the English game a more modern entity. It is no surprise, then, that his death in 1934 was met with claims that he was "the most notable figure in the football world for at least a decade".

A son of Yorkshire, Chapman, like Wenger, gave no indication as to his genius during an uneventful playing career. At the end of his time playing at the north end of Seven Sisters Road with Tottenham, though, Chapman learned through team-mate Walter Bull of a vacancy at Northampton Town for a player-manager in 1907. Handed responsibility for a team and its systems and processes for the first time, Chapman began to establish his reputation for tactical innovation as he honed an unusual counter-attacking style in an era when patiently drawing out an opponent was virtually anathema to the prevailing style.

After securing the Southern League title and then moving on to Leeds City in 1912, Chapman became embroiled in a scandal regarding alleged illegal payments to players. He refused to hand over Leeds' books to the authorities, so the club was expelled from the league and Chapman was initially banned for life in 1919. But two years later he was back in football with Huddersfield Town. He had been handed a second chance by the authorities, and it was one that he would grasp with both hands.

Having won the FA Cup when beating Preston in the final in 1922, Chapman then went on claim the title in 1924 and 1925. While Huddersfield completed the first ever hat-trick of championship wins following his move to Arsenal, his reign was still hailed in the Huddersfield Daily Examiner with the following passage: "His have been the brains behind the team, his the directing skill that has paved the way to success. Town is on everyone's lips today and for the proud position which it occupies in public esteem it has very largely Mr Chapman to thank."

At Huddersfield, Chapman began to conceptualise the tactics and methods that would elevate him to legendary status at Arsenal. He also began to assume the kind of status within the club that had eluded his contemporaries. As Jonathan Wilson writes in Inverting the Pyramid: "What was significant was not merely that Chapman had a clear conception of how the game should be played, but that he was in a position to implement that vision. He was - at least in Britain - the first modern manager, the first man to have complete control of the running of the club, from signings to selection to tactics to arranging for gramophone records to be played over the public address system."

This unprecedented control would also be in evidence, and be fully expressed, at Arsenal, despite the fact that the man who convinced Chapman to leave the English champions and join a struggling, but ambitious Gunners side was Sir Henry Norris, a man who regularly reduced Leslie Knighton to what Chapman's predecessor described as "fuming, helpless silence" with his autocratic ways. But Norris, himself a key figure in Arsenal's history, proved more pliable in his relationship with Chapman, most notably when agreeing to pay £2,000 for Sunderland's Charlie Buchan, as well as £100 for every goal the inside forward scored in his first season at Arsenal. He scored 21.

Though Buchan would retire in 1928 - before the dawn of Arsenal's golden age but after the FA Cup final defeat to Cardiff in 1927, when Dan Lewis famously knocked the ball over his own line with his arm to ensure the cup would leave England for the first and only time - he, in conjunction with Chapman, would leave his stamp on Arsenal's tactics in era-defining fashion. A change in the offside rule in 1925 convinced the two men that the traditional centre-half, at that point pushed up the pitch, would need to fulfil more of a defensive role, resulting in the 'third back' system. This defensive shift, coupled with a move to enhance the midfield by withdrawing an inside forward, marked a decisive moment in football's tactical evolution. Out of the ashes of 2-3-5 was born the WM system that would become standard in England and beyond.

Initial success with the new formation was patchy, but Chapman persisted and his innovative methods of actually coaching his players in the art of tactics, a rarity at the time, began to bear fruit. Explaining why he issued players with such instructions, Chapman later wrote: "Thirty years ago, men went out with the fullest licence to display their arts and crafts. Today they have to make their contribution to a system." When he found players capable of individual endeavours, yet fully yoked to his tactical approach, Chapman was ready to fulfil his pledge of bringing Arsenal their first piece of silverware within five years.

The addition of Eddie Hapgood in 1927 was key. Cliff Bastin would later claim the full back "bore the stamp of greatness. Eddie had football developed into a meticulously exact science", and after being put, according to Brian Glanville in his The Real Arsenal: From Chapman to Wenger, on a course of beefsteaks by trainer Tom Whittaker to toughen him up, his place at the back of Arsenal's great side was assured. Meanwhile, in more advanced roles, the acquisition of future record goalscorer Bastin, from Exeter City, and Preston North End's gifted passer Alex James in the summer of 1929 would transform Arsenal's attack.

With the side still adapting to the new arrivals, Arsenal struggled to 14th in the league in the 1929-30 season, but they progressed to the FA Cup final where they would meet none other than Chapman's former side, Huddersfield. At the manager' insistence, the two teams, watched over by King George V, set a new tradition by walking out side-by-side for the first time. They were soon separated when, after 17 minutes, the visionary James found Bastin on the left with a quick free kick. Bastin returned the ball to his team-mate who fired into the corner. The goal had been predestined. As Glanville reports, James told Bastin on the coach on the way to Wembley: "If we get a free kick, I'll slip the ball out to you right away. Hold it, then let me have it back, and I'll put it into the net."

After a memorable interlude in which the huge German airship Graf Zeppelin passed over Wembley, a long clearance from James then found Jack Lambert in the centre circle after 83 minutes, and he darted away from two men before beating the goalkeeper to make it 2-0. Having vanquished his former side, Chapman broke with tradition once more by inviting Huddersfield to dine with Arsenal after the cup final. Opposing chairman Mr Hurst said in response: "A great friendship exists between the Arsenal and Huddersfield, and I hope they will meet again in the cup and that the result will be different."

Huddersfield, though, would never again win a major trophy. Arsenal's first, secured thanks to the genius of Chapman and his modern approach, ushered in a wonderful era for the North London club. The blueprint for success had been set.

What happened next?
Arsenal were crowned league champions in 1931 and went on to secure three successive titles in 1933, 1934 and 1935. However, Chapman would not live to see the second after dying suddenly of pneumonia in January 1934 after trips to watch Bury and Sheffield Wednesday. The presence at his funeral of officials from France, Sweden and Austria was testament to his impact on the European game, while his obituary in The Times described how "the full effect of his influence on the game cannot be gauged yet". Nearly 80 years on, Chapman's legacy at Huddersfield, Arsenal and beyond is abundantly clear.

Source: Tom Adams, ESPN Soccernet on 20 Jan 11

Huddersfield's Lee Clark puts Arsène Wenger's philosophy to acid test

Arsenal are a yardstick for Huddersfield's manager and the FA Cup tie is the biggest examination of the League One club's passing game

Lee Clark closes the laptop on his impressively tidy desk and concedes he has changed. "In the past I didn't know if I'd be able to get on with new technology," says the Huddersfield Town manager. "But I'm always using it now. I've got all the computer programmes, I've tried to embrace it."

At one time many people would have been astonished to see Clark choreographing both a League One promotion campaign and an FA Cup adventure with Arsenal from the manager's office at the Galpharm Stadium.

The former Newcastle United, Sunderland and Fulham midfielder was, unfairly as it transpires, widely deemed a daft Geordie lad who, whisper it, did not seem the sharpest tool in the box. If such theories gained currency when his stint at Sunderland came to an abrupt end after he was pictured attending the 1999 Newcastle v Manchester United FA Cup final wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with "Sad Mackem Bastards", they have been thoroughly undermined in West Yorkshire.

These days Clark is regarded as a potential high-flyer whose insistence on Huddersfield playing a smooth, thoughtful, passing game has persuaded Arsène Wenger to loan him Arsenal's England youth international striker Benik Afobe.

While Afobe will not feature at the Emirates tomorrow Clark, also missing his injured leading scorer, Jordan Rhodes, can expect a warm greeting from the sometimes sniffy Wenger.

"It's a big boost to me that we've had players loaned here from not just Arsenal but Liverpool and Manchester United too," he says in his soft Tyneside accent. "It's very complimentary that top Premier League managers want their players to come to Hudderfield. It's important for me to win games and get out of this league but I intend to do it playing the way I want, with a good passing ethos."

Kevin Kilbane, the much travelled Ireland international, recently arrived on loan from Hull and believes few managers do more assiduous homework. "Lee's attention to detail and analysis are unbelievable," Kilbane says. "He's also a very good coach; I can certainly see him going higher up the management ladder."

For the moment all Clark can think about is the most glamorous game of his two years at Huddersfield. "Trying to get out of this league and into the Championship is the biggest test," he says. "But playing at Arsenal is my toughest and most exciting challenge. The style Arsenal play is what I aspire to. My dream as a manager is to get to that level, to have a team like that. As a club and a manager Arsenal and Arsène Wenger are a yardstick."

A chat Clark enjoyed with Wenger at a coaching seminar remains a treasured memory. "I remember our conversation word for word and I keep going back to it," he says. "Those type of things are worth their weight in gold to young managers like me."

At 38, he remains relatively inexperienced but benefits from having served under an eclectic assortment of managerial mentors including Ossie Ardíles, Kevin Keegan, Peter Reid, Jean Tigana and Graeme Souness. "I've been lucky in that I've enjoyed working for all of them so I don't hesitate to pick up the phone and ask for their advice," he says.

An epiphany came when he played for Wenger's compatriot Tigana at Fulham and suddenly appreciated that an apparent fixation with players' fitness and diet "enabled you to sell your wares better". By then realisation had also dawned that there really was life outside Geordieland. "Leaving the north-east was tough at first," Clark says. "But within a month I knew I'd made the right decision. Once I'd settled in to life down south I loved it. The lifestyle my family and I had living in Surrey was great; we had a magnificent time."

Nonetheless, Newcastle still exerted a powerful pull and, not long after returning to St James' Park in a junior coaching capacity that involved helping develop Andy Carroll's academy skills, Clark was confronted with another big choice.

This time Glenn Roeder called, offering the post of assistant manager at Norwich. "I didn't want to leave Newcastle, it was where I wanted to be," he says. "But I knew if I was going to make my mark in management Norwich was an offer I couldn't turn down."

The decision to listen to his head rather than his heart was vindicated a year later when Huddersfield made him manager after hearing through the grapevine that Roeder had hired one of the brightest young talents in England's coaching pool. His seemingly natural, attention-grabbing poise and authority in a tracksuit were not acquired overnight, however.

"I got my first coaching badge at 23," says Clark who, early in his playing career, helped coach Walker Central boys club where Newcastle's Shola Ameobi was harbouring hopes of turning professional. "It gives me a lot of pride that I had a little bit of impact on Shola and Andy Carroll. But I always knew I wanted to be a manager. I didn't just want to be a coach, I wanted to be the one making the decisions."

Although he is doing precisely that at the club Bill Shankly managed before taking charge at Liverpool, Huddersfield has lately been regarded more as a poisoned chalice than a stepping stone. After all the 1922 FA Cup winners and three-times League champions have not resided in English football's top two tiers for 10 years now. Clark is their seventh manager in 12 seasons.

Yet with the team third in League One and anxious to atone for last spring's play-off defeat against Millwall, there is cautious optimism that his partnership with the club's wealthy new owner, the greetings card magnate Dean Hoyle, will finally end an era of instability.

It is not merely Clark's habit of artfully knotting a blue and white scarf around his neck on matchdays that has earned him the "Roberto Mancini of League One" sobriquet, but a perception that Huddersfield are, à la Mancini's Manchester City, now capable of financially outmuscling their divisional rivals.

"This is a huge club," says an increasingly suavely groomed and smartly dressed manager who does not care to contemplate "what my Geordie mates might say" about that now hallmark scarf.

"Not so long ago Huddersfield were in administration but we've just bought land to build a training facility which will be of Premier League quality," says Clark.

"The owner wants to see this club competing at the highest level and my ambition is to get us there. Reaching the Premier League is a dream but teams like Wigan and Hull have shown it is an achievable dream.

"Sunday at Arsenal will whet the appetite. We're massive underdogs but I've got some gifted young players … and the FA Cup is all about shocks."

Source: Louise Taylor, The Guardian on 29 Jan 11

Match Preview: Arsenal vs Huddersfield Town

“We can call him a ‘super pioneer’ because he really turned this Club into one that was ready for the modern era. He was ahead of his time and he was certainly the most influential manager.”

Surprisingly those words were spoken by, not about, Arsène Wenger this week.

The Arsenal manager was actually referring to Herbert Chapman, a man who brought the first real success to the newly-installed North London side when he arrived from Huddersfield in the summer of 1925.

The Yorkshireman won four League titles – two with each team – and two FA Cups, the second of which, in 1930, was Arsenal’s first major honour.

The side they beat in that final was Huddersfield Town so the Terriers’ visit to Emirates Stadium on Sunday for a Fourth Round tie in the same competition is heavy with history.

“It is a big tradition,” admitted Wenger at his press conference on Friday. “We even went to play a friendly with them in pre-season [in 2008] on the demand of our chairman because there is a long traditional link between Huddersfield and Arsenal.

“We are a modern club but have as well a big respect for tradition. It has a special meaning because Chapman was the most influential manager at this Club. So we have of course big respect for that.”

The current Huddersfield side are third in League One and gunning for promotion under Lee Clark. They have lost only once in their last seven games and beat Cambridge, Macclesfield and Dover to reach the Fourth Round. Arsenal’s 17-year-old striker Benik Afobe is about to start another loan spell at the Galpharm Stadium but is ineligible for this game because, unlike Sanchez Watt in the last round against Leeds, his deal was not for a full season.

Arsenal have had trouble negotiating Championship sides recently but they have not lost to a side outside the top two tiers since Wrexham in 1992 – which was historic for entirely different reasons.

Wenger’s side is likely to be much-changed from one that beat Ipswich to reach the Carling Cup Final on Tuesday. After that game, the manager said he would like to play one side against Huddersfield and an entirely different one against Everton in the Premier League 48 hours later.

He is a few players short of being able to do that but the return of Tomas Rosicky (sickness), Abou Diaby (calf), Manuel Almunia (ankle) and Sebastien Squillaci (hamstring) means he has more options at his disposal.

The Spaniard’s comeback after fourth months out is particularly intriguing given that, on Friday, Wenger said Wojciech Szczesny was the current No 1 and the gloves were his to lose. A decision on Sunday’s custodian will be made on the morning of the match.

This will be the ninth game of a massive January for Wenger’s side in every sense. In their 124 years, Arsenal have never played so many matches in the first month of the year. And, apart from a goalless draw with Manchester City in which they dominated, Wenger’s men have a 100 per cent record. Remember they may have lost to Ipswich and drawn with Leeds in individual games but the won both ties.

In those eight games they have conceded just three times (all in cup competitions) and have scored 16 goals – including three in each of their last four games.

“That's a consequence of our style which is always trying and go forward and score goals,” said Wenger. “Some periods we are a bit less successful at doing it. But not now.”

It may be ‘only’ the Carling Cup to some but Arsenal’s players have had a sense of euphoria all this week. How can you dismiss a trophy you have never won? Or, for many of them, how can you dismiss a trophy when you have never won one at all?

But one thing is certain - Arsenal’s season will not be judged on the Carling Cup alone when they are Manchester United’s closest rivals in the Premier League and the Champions League is in the Knockout Stage. That does leave two questions of course. Where does the FA Cup fit in? And can Arsenal realistically go for all four trophies?

“Well quadruple is not a bad word,” said Wenger, answering the second part. “It is a very good word but, of course, we are far from that.

“What is good is that we are involved in all competitions and we are hungry to do as well as we can.

“What can we do? We don't know. But we are happy because we won our last game. We are on a good run and feel we have a good confidence level and a good attitude in the whole squad.

“We are getting stronger and stronger, so this is what we want to do.

“Of course if we are involved in the four competitions we need a super-realistic approach, focus on the next game and just try to win it.

“You build the confidence in the team slowly and you lose it very quickly. One big bad result and you are down very quickly. So it's important to keep our feet on the ground and to show we have learned from Leeds and Ipswich how difficult these games can be.

“But the FA Cup is very important for us. Did you see the team we played at Leeds? That just means it has an importance, we could have gone to Leeds and said ‘OK, we go with a reserve team’.

“But we went with a first team squad and we had everybody fired up and playing. We had to fight to qualify and so we focus on Huddersfield right now.”

Of course, those were Wenger’s words but they could have easily come from Chapman.

It seems the ‘super-pioneer’s' legacy is in good hands.

Source: Richard Clarke, Arsenal.com on 29 Jan 11