To win a Cup Final you don’t have to be the best team in the word. In fact, you don’t even have to be the best team in the stadium. What you do have to have is resilience, a little luck and a goalkeeper who decides, that on this particular day, to have a blinder.
All hail Birmingham City 'keeper, Ben Foster who, in front of the England coach Fabio Capello, deservedly won his second Carling Cup Final man-of-the-match award for a series of exceptional saves that ultimately denied Arsene Wenger and Arsenal their first major trophy in six years.
It was nothing more than Alex McLeish and the Blues deserved though. They not only matched a team with superior footballing skills but at times outplayed them while showing what commitment, heart and belief look like. All virtues that sometimes get overlooked by an international press more attracted to traits like finesse, panache and swagger.
The latter you won’t find in abundance with the Blues, but you will get the footballing brain of a Barry Ferguson along with the bite of a Lee Bowyer and both these experienced campaigners were huge. One wonders if Wenger looked on enviously as his young team clearly lacked that focus, as well as not making the most of their opportunities before crumbling in glorious fashion.
To concede a late goal is always a killer blow but to lose this match, a match that carried so much significance and in such circumstances - what can you say, except ‘I told you so.’ I can only hope that Wenger one day listens to common sense and buys the players that everyone knows he needs. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs their brains tested because it’s obvious you know nothing about football.
Let this be noted for hopefully the last time. Arsenal, will never be the team we think they can be until there is a world-class goalkeeper, center-back and experienced spiritual leader in their midst.
In typical Wenger fashion though he refused to point the blame at either Wojciech Szczesny or Laurent Koscieiny who put on their best Keystone Cop routine at exactly the wrong time, trotting out the tried and tested excuse that they’re young saying "you have to be positive because he (Szczesny) is a young boy."
Yes, it was a mistake as big as a house but to be honest, I don’t feel bad for Szczesny. However, I am gutted for the youngest player on the pitch, Jack Wilshire. If the teenager keeps maturing, progressing and leading this club in the manner that he’s shown over the last few months, one of Wenger’s problems will be solved. Tears in cup finals are always poignant reminders that it still means something to the young at heart.
The worry for the North Londoners now is that they’ll go into their usual spring tailspin, flame out of every competition and have Wenger up in arms about the unfair nature of scheduling and playing in multiple competitions. I can guarantee that they’ll be watching events at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday that little bit more closely while ironically cheering the Blues on.
So just where do the victors, Birmingham go from here? One thing that is for sure, is that their 47-year wait for a major trophy makes Arsenal’s six year hiatus feel like a nano-second.
If I were McLeish, I’d have the celebration last about that long because the club is teetering on the edge of disaster. They are only two points above the relegation zone and I can’t but help think of Tottenham a few seasons ago when they won the Carling Cup in 2008. They barely won another match all season as Ledley King attempted to recover from the world’s biggest hangover.
With 12 matches left, McLeish must ride the momentum and enthusiasm of this victory to push the club to safety or it will have been all for nothing. As noted, the required qualities for a fight runs deep through the club but in this season, the tightest relegation battle ever, any lapses in concentration are brutally punished.
For today though they can celebrate. David has slayed Goliath.
Nick Webster is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering the Barclay's Premier League and the English national team.
