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Arsene Wenger makes his critics eat their words

By Jocelyn Taub

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 27: Arsene Wenger manager / head coach of Arsenal celebrates with the trophy after the Emirates FA Cup Final match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on May 27, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 27: Arsene Wenger manager / head coach of Arsenal celebrates with the trophy after the Emirates FA Cup Final match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on May 27, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images) /
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It has been a season of constant abuse for Arsene Wenger but his Wembley game plan worked and led to Arsenal defeating Chelsea in the FA Cup final

The negativity surrounding Arsenal and Arsene Wenger all season long has been constant. There’s a saying that people like to kick you when you’re down. That has been the case this year for the Gunners. From the #WengerOut vitriol, to the constant criticism of the team in the media it’s been tough trying to stay positive about the Gunners.

Based on the predictions heading in to the FA Cup final at Wembley it seemed that there was no point in playing the match as everyone predicted doom, gloom and embarrassment for Arsenal.

The pessimism level rose even higher when the starting lineups were announced.

Wenger was faced with a defensive crisis heading in to the final with Laurent Koscielny banned and both Shkodran Mustafi and Gabriel out injured. In came captain Per Mertesacker who had played in just one match all season.

Wenger also made the surprise move of giving David Ospina the start in goal ahead of number one Petr Cech

Here are just some of the comments and headlines prior to kick off:

Or this story from the Evening Standard – FA Cup final: Chelsea will beat Arsenal because of Antonio Conte – Ray Wilkins

Wenger gets post match redemption

Well there are many people eating their words now as Wenger has become the most successful manager in FA Cup history. The Gunner’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea is his seventh FA Cup trophy as Arsenal manager.

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Wenger’s team dominated for the entire 90 minutes. Mertesacker and Holding were brilliant on defense and Ospina made some great saves.

The entire side worked hard for the manager, the fans and themselves. It showed as the Gunners had the champions on the back foot all afternoon.

Afterwards the anti Wenger rhetoric turned to praise:

From the Mirror: Arsene Wenger deserves respect as much as Arsenal did their FA Cup triumph over Chelsea

Next: Arsenal strike back at Bayern Munich

So congratulations to Arsene Wenger and I’m sure he’s going to enjoy reading the headlines tomorrow.

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