Have Arsenal fans overreacted?

Wenger followed that hurtful 3-0 loss to Palace with a poor 2-1 win over Middlesbrough, but rallied his troops to beat antepost FA Cup favourites Man City in the semi-finals at Wembley. Written off by just about everyone before the off, they battled back from a goal down to win 2-1, Monreal getting the equaliser and Sanchez grabbing an extra-time decider.

That placed them in the final with Chelsea, and the 12-time winners now have the chance to set a record with a 13^th success. They beat Chelsea 2-0 in the finale back in 2002, and have won two of the last three FA Cup finals. Could another upset be on the cards? Certain sections of the support would have a cheek to cheer if the manager did pull it off.

Top-four finish a real possibility

A top-four finish, which seems to be the minimum Wenger expects from his side when setting out pre-season goals, isn’t an impossible feat either. They beat Manchester United 2-0 at the weekend, their third league win in four, moving Arsenal to within two points of The Red Devils in fifth. They play their game in hand against Southampton on Wednesday, win that and they’ll leapfrog United, and go three points behind City and the Champions League slots.

Do the job on Wednesday and Arsenal will face a run-in that won’t frighten backers. Stoke away on Saturday followed by three home games on the bounce, vs an already relegated Sunderland, an out-of-form Everton, and then Chelsea, who could’ve already won the league by then. Put all that together and we come to the conclusion – some frantic Arsenal fans should’ve shown their leader a bit more loyalty, and our price on a top-four finish looks worth a pop.

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