It feels like a long time ago since Arsenal last lost an FA cup match. In fact, as they seek their 12th consecutive victory in the tournament for back to back FA cup triumphs, you have to stretch to February 16th 2013 for their last defeat.
So who was it to? Chelsea? Manchester United? Liverpool? Although they may be your first few guesses, it still won't be overly surprising to many that it was actually to Championship team Blackburn Rovers.
It must have been a tight game at Ewood Park then? Wrong again, it was actually at the Emirates stadium, with Kazim-Richards scoring to help Blackburn to a 0-1 away win.
These are the sorts of results that have been associated with Arsenal far too often in the last 10 years, results that are still humorous to rival teams, but ultimately becoming a familiar shortfall for the 2nd half of Arsene Wenger's reign.
That might seem harsh for a manager who is on the verge of guiding his team to becoming the single most successful team in FA cup history, (currently joint with Manchester United on 11 FA cup trophies). It seems especially harsh when you take into consideration that a win on Saturday would also make Wenger the joint most victorious manager in the tournament ever, taking his Winners medal tally to 6. Yet the importance of this final rides more on the fact that Arsenal can put a solid stamp past the struggling days of restricted financial failures. It will make results like the 5th round FA Cup loss to Blackburn, the 1-2 loss to Birmingham City in the Capital One Cup final, and the knockout to League One Bradford City in the same tournament feel like a thing of the past. So who are the team threatening to keep Arsenal firmly associated in the underachievers category?
Quite fittingly for Wenger, that team is Aston Villa. Why is that fitting do you ask? Well, the current most successful manager in FA Cup history is actually George Ramsay, who managed Aston Villa to 6 FA Cup trophies in the most successful years of the club's history. He is also only 2nd to Sir Alex Ferguson with 6 League Championships, in a phenomenal managerial career that span 42 years from 1884–1926. Just think about that for a second. He was the manager of 1 club for 42 years. When you consider the fact that Wenger is the closest current manager that can be associated with this record on the cusp of 20 years with Arsenal, it really does speak volumes about how football has changed in so many ways from a century ago. It's only a matter of time before managers are in charge of a club for 3 weeks maximum, buying players from clubs for a bargain fee of only £60 million.
Nevertheless, history is the last thing on Arsenal and Aston Villa fans' minds at the moment! So let's focus on their upcoming, head to head, trophy-awaiting showdown. Arsenal hold a frighteningly 1-sided 8-0 aggregate scoreline over Villa with their 2 premier league fixtures this season, with Arsenal's biggest win of their season coming over them in the 5-0 win at the Emirates. Although this was a result that only came at the start of February this year, a lot has changed for both teams since then, particularly for Aston Villa. Whilst Arsenal were amid their best Premier League form since the days of 'The Invincibles' team, a Paul Lambert Aston Villa team were going through a goal-shy patch with a series of substandard results that left them in a relegation battle. Since then, Arsenal's brilliant 8 match winning league run has came to an end, and a revitalised Aston Villa team, now under the management of Tim Sherwood, saw them safely finish the league season above the relegation zone with 2 games to spare.
For both clubs however, the end of their league campaigns seemed to trundle across the finish line, which is often the case for teams with players eagerly anticipating an FA Cup final. Arsenal won 1 of their last 4 league games, (albeit with a stylish 4-1 win over West Brom in their final game), whilst Villa got thrashed 6-1 by Southampton in their penultimate game of the season, before losing 0-1 at home to Championship-bound Burnley. So how much of these things can really effect the performances of both teams come 30th May?
Not a lot, in the grand scheme of things; ultimately both clubs will have to deal with different kinds of pressure and mental blocks. Arsenal will be desperate to add another trophy to their most recent disappointing decade, whilst simultaneously knowing that the world will be rallying Villa on for another underdog victory spectacle. From Aston Villa's perspective, they will know full well how long they might have to wait for another chance to win silverware, whilst having to overcome the fear of a superior team. Does that give them a bit of an advantage because there is more expectancy on Arsenal? Perhaps, although having an 0-8 aggregate scoreline against your opponents and losing your last 2 league games of the season can't be helpful no matter what the circumstances were.
Whilst Arsenal are likely to stick to their usual game plan and overcome Villa with crisp passing and interchanging football, there are also clear tactical approaches that Villa can take to try and clinch the victory. Arsenal are susceptible to overcommitting in search of a goal, and Villa don't lack any pace to sucker punch Arsenal on the counter attack with players like Fabian Delph, Scott Sinclair, Gabriel Agbonlahor, and the silky-smooth, upcoming Jack Grealish. (Who has been compared to Jack Wilshere.) In addition to this, Arsenal are very prone to conceding goals from headers this season. Of the 36 Premier League goals that they've conceded, 13 of them have been from headers. That's more than 1 third of the goals that they've let in. It wouldn't be any surprise to see Tim Sherwood instruct as many crosses as possible with the towering Christian Benteke eagerly licking his lips with anticipation in the penalty box. Speaking of Benteke, he's a striker who's come back into some form under Sherwood. Make no mistake about it, there will be no bemoaning of 'if only Villa had a striker who could score' after the match. Arsenal may be the favourites, and rightly so, but if they aren't on top of their game you can bet that Villa will be beating them to every 2nd ball.
At the end of the day, anything can happen in an FA Cup final: A moment of madness leading to a red card, a moment of brilliance resulting in the top corner, a moment of utter shock as referee Jon Moss points to the penalty spot, a moment of misfortune as the ball loops over the stranded goalkeeper after ricocheting in off the defender. Anything is possible in knockout encounters, and with only a few games remaining this season across Europe to enjoy, there definitely isn't a better way to conclude the beautiful game in England with the tournament where it all began.