Arsenal 4-0 Coventry: The Guff

A look at the reaction from the media and blogosphere to yesterday’s 4-0 win over Coventry in the FA Cup.

Wenger noted that Coventry’s eye-catching spell coincided with the players who are working their way back to full fitness dropping physically. A couple of late changes punished Coventry at a time when fatigue took its toll on the visitors. Giroud and Cazorla finished with unerring accuracy, to turn the scoreline into a harsh one for Pressley to stomach. – Amy Lawrence, Guardian.

Wenger is taking this competition seriously, starting with players of the quality of Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Mesut Özil and Lukas Podolski. The Cup clearly means a lot to Wenger’s players with Özil posting a tweet within 10 minutes of the final whistle that Arsenal had taken “one more step to the final. May 14th, Wembley. An important date.’’ – Henry Winter, Telegraph.

The most exciting part of the evening, though, at least for Arsenal fans, was their first competitive sight of Gedion Zelalem, their brilliant teenage midfielder who is so implausibly young that he was born – in January 1997 – after Arsene Wenger took over at Highbury. “That is more damaging for me than for him,” Wenger joked afterwards. – Jack Pitt-Brooke, Independent.

A word about Zelalem is in order. It feels compulsory to warn against excessive praise for players so young, but he showed enormous composure and speed of thought when making his cameo last night. His emergence will only add to the competition for places in a midfield already rich in talent, and that must surely be a good thing. – Goonerholic.

Since his return from injury, Poldolski has been the subject of a lot of discussion among the Arsenal following. Be it the debate over his ability to lead the line, his role in the team and even his future, with there even being some talk that he may be surplus to requirements. Against Coventry, he started off on the left hand side and was once again far more effective than when tasked with playing in a more central role. – Arsenal Vision.

Last night was the first game we’ve won by a goal margin greater than three, and I’ve previously noted that it feels like we’re waiting to give someone a shellacking, yet it never quite comes. But last night wasn’t the sort of game you want the players trying to leave it all out on the pitch – not with a league trip to Southampton to come on Tuesday night, and certainly not once we were two-nil up. – Arse2Mouse.

Follow the links for more post-game goodness.

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