Another side in the final four is Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, who set out one of the weakest sides they have ever put out in such a meaningful fixture. Fortunately for United they were up against the utter joke that is Arsenal FC in March.
Arsenal are pathetic. They have no guts, no fight, they are just so accepting of their fate. Time after time over the last 6 years we have seen this capitulation and how it must hurt their fans. You just get the sense with the Gunners that there is a fear there - they so patently lack the iron will and fierce competitive spirit of their table topping rivals. How they get over this is to me a simple case of investment - it's no longer good enough to rely on developing youth when that youth have only losers to learn from.
The most impressive demonstration this weekend of a will to win and a refusal to accept defeat was not in England however (well, AFC Hamsey's titanic 3-2 win away at Woodcote not withstanding - well done lads).
Sunday saw the Grand Final of Australia's A-League - the post season tournament that follows the regular season league. Brisbane Roar had pretty much run away with the Championship - they came into this game on the back of a 27 game unbeaten streak; and so were overwhelming pre-match favourites to overcome the Central Coast Mariners.
Mariners to their great credit came out all guns blazing and had the better of the first half, but could not find a breakthrough. As is so often the case however, Roar came...ahem...Roaring back and controlled the second period. Playing 'Up Troppo' almost led to the game descending into farce - 20 minutes of biblical rain favoured the slick passing game that Roar have used to such great effect all season. Mariners were grateful to their rookie goalkeeper Matt Ryan for some impressive resilience, and the match ended goalless.
Having seen 90 minutes without a goal, the next 15 produced two of them. The shock was that they both came for the Central Coast - the first a scrappy header from a corner; the second - the clincher - a classic breakaway goal.
The clincher...yeah...not so much. With the match clock displaying 117 and Roar still needing two goals, an impressive team move saw Brazilian midfielder Henrique slot home from the edge of the area. Henrique was then put through a minute later for surely the final chance but he shot straight at the keeper and it looked like the 'toilet seat' would be heading down to New South Wales. With literally the last touch of the game however, Erik Paartalu crashed home a header to send the vast majority of the 50'000 crowd absolutely mental.
Penalties, given the circumstances, were a formality. The momentum was entirely with Brisbane, but more than that, they were completely and utterly dead set on winning. The fact that they persisted even into the dying moments with their passing football should be a message to Arsenal - the approach can work, but the players need to believe in themselves. Roar deserved their win yesterday, even if it was cruel on the Mariners, because they have proven time and time again this year that they just don't take kindly to losing. The sheer will to win was impressive to behold, and puts the meek, pathetic perennial Arsenal surrender to shame.
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