Like most other football fans, I like to watch Arsenal play. In spite of the very Gallic diving, refusing to shoot from any more than 10 yards out and the constant whinging at a defeat, you come away from the Emirates sure that this is the style football should be played in. Quick, two-touch stuff based on using the space available, keeping possession and waiting for the inevitable opening. It doesn't mean you want them to win a trophy, but in a cup final against Birmingham many would pick artistry over bullishness.
Like many, then, I was rather deflated to watch the Blues make off with the trophy. But there was a sense of inevitability about this defeat, a certain awareness that Arsenal were there to be broken. It's something that has followed them for the last three years, and to me it stems entirely from one area of the pitch.
Wojciech Szczesny seems a decent enough goalkeeper, but ultimately a mistake like that was three months in the making. At 20 - he has absolutely no authority over his back four and can't organise things from set pieces. Manuel Almunia is no better, if not worse. Three or four clean sheets in a row are all very well, but how much pressure is an Arsenal keeper typically under in a match? Ultimately it's in the big games when the big questions are answered and Arsenal's trio of Almunia, Szczesny and Fabianski are found wanting every time.
The moment to change goalkeeper came in Paris in 2006, after Jens Lehmann brought down Samuel Eto'o and became the first player to be sent off in a European cup final. Lehmann was 36 at the time - the same age David Seaman was when he started to lose it, but instead of a replacement, Arsene Wenger looked to understudy Manuel Almunia to fill the coming void.
Since Almunia was promoted to number one - Arsenal's defence has been a mess. His first season saw the Gunners ship 10 more goals than league winners Man Utd and the gap widened to 13 in the season after that. Last season, Arsenal conceded 41 league goals - their highest total for nine years - and 13 more than Man Utd. If you wonder why they finished 11 points adrift, the goals against column will go some way to explaining it.
Yes - the back four has not been as solid as previous teams, but that didn't always cause so much of a problem. The Invincibles team saw Pascal Cygan make 18 appearances and they conceded just 26; Philippe Senderos started the 2005 FA Cup Final and helped Arsenal produce one of the best defensive displays in the competition's history.
Arguments over Arsenal's young squad taking time to gel carry little weight any more - no other top side has kept a group of players together for longer. The reality is that this team has been ready to win things for quite some time, but has been consistently held back by its pitiful last line of defence. Majestic football will get you so far, but until the problem is suitably addressed (surely by an Irish chap currently wasting away at Manchester City) the fans will have to make do with a paltry list of 39 honours for some time to come.
