Sport FA Cup final
2 2GS Saturday August 1 2020 | the times
WEEKEND
BRIEFING
Heat on Gerrard
Despite his popularity with
many Rangers fans, Steven
Gerrard has won nothing in
two seasons and is unlikely to
stay as manager unless he
can stop Celtic winning a
tenth successive title
PAGE 9Falcons grounded
While clubs in the
Premiership are gearing for
a return in the next fortnight,
promoted Newcastle have no
matches to play for months
and are stuck in purgatory.
Owen Slot hears their plight
PAGE 14Just before
kick-off, I was
almost burping
and vomiting
to release the
pressure
PER MERTESACKER, PAGES 4-Making of Max
Jos Verstappen’s tough love
has made his son Max the
Formula One driver he is,
the ultimate boy racer. “It
helps [as a young driver] if
you have someone next to
you who understands racing
and has done it themselves,”
Max tells John Westerby
INTERVIEW, PAGE 10Fans must wait
The return of fans to sports
events suffers a setback after
the government decides not
to allow spectators into test
events after fears of an
increase in Covid-
infections. No pilot events
can be held until August 15 at
the earliest.
PAGE 15TODAY
England v Ireland,
Second ODI, 2pm
Sky Sports Main Event/
Cricket
TOMORROW
British Grand Prix, 2.10pm
Sky Sports F1, Channel 4On the box
Arsenal go into today’s FA Cup final led
by Mikel Arteta, someone with barely
eight months of managerial experience
to his name, but it is clear that they are
still benefiting from the wisdom of their
greatest manager.
Arteta played for Arsène Wenger for
five seasons and revealed yesterday
that he is in regular contact with the
70-year-old, who retired as the Arsenal
manager two years ago after 22 years
with the club.
Winning the FA Cup would be a
brilliant finale to Arteta’s first chapter in
charge at the Emirates but the theme of
a young manager eager to acquire his
first piece of silverware also applies to
Chelsea, with Frank Lampard, who
hopes to end an encouraging first
season at the helm at Stamford Bridge
with a Wembley triumph.
Arteta has been in regular contact
with Wenger, now Fifa’s chief of global
football development, in recent
months. “It is great to have him on
board and he gives me great advice,”
Arteta said. “Just talking to him, you
know? He has such knowledge. He is
such an intelligent person, just
knowing that he is there and he is going
to be supporting us and supporting
me, it makes me feel calmer. You can
talk about anything with him — and
you can take the book out and make
some notes.”
Wenger won the FA Cup a record
seven times as Arsenal manager, twice
with Arteta, and the Spaniard has
fond memories of those victories,
particularly winning the competition in- Arteta captained Arsenal to
victory over Hull City, overcoming an
early two-goal deficit to win 3-2.
“We wanted to do it for everyone, for
the club, for our fans, for Arsène as well,
who was handling the situation really
well,” Arteta said. “We knew how
important it was for him and it
generated a really good connection
between the club, players and fans.”
Arteta is hoping that the captain
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will have
similarly positive memories at the end
of today’s game as his future at the club
remains uncertain, with discussions
continuing over a new contract. “That
[winning titles] has a strong link with
everything that you want to experience
as a player. Winning the trophy helps
you to really feel, ‘Wow, I want to
experience more of these moments.’ ”
In contrast to his Arsenal
counterpart, Lampard yesterday
revealed that he had had no recent
contact with one of his club’s most
experienced and popular figures:
Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea
owner. Lampard said he had not spoken
to Abramovich since the club secured
Champions League qualification, and
wouldn’t expect to hear from him
during the off-season.
Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003
and sanctioned the appointment of
Lampard as manager last July,
reportedly telephoning the former
midfielder to offer reassurances.
But the Russian has generally been a
remote figure during Lampard’s first
season, in which Chelsea finished
fourth in the Premier League, with
much of the day-to-day power wielded
by the director Marina Granovskaia
and Petr Cech, the technical and
performance adviser.
“We haven’t been in touch, and
there’s nothing in that,” Lampard said.
“I think my job is to work as well as I can
do, and after coming in the top four,
which I think we all felt was something
that we really aimed for this year and
Cup semi-final. Asked if Chelsea had
identified Luiz as a possible Arsenal
weak point, Lampard replied: “No, I
certainly haven’t. I look at Arsenal as a
collective and look at the individuals of
the team, and however we prepare for
the game has to remain private. But
what I do have for David is a real
respect. I played with him as a team-
mate in the Champions League in
2012 and the bond of that group was
huge.”
Lampard said that Ruben
Loftus-Cheek would miss the final with
a minor injury but N’Golo Kanté and
Willian were in the match-day squad.
Perhaps his most scrutinised
selection decision will be in goal. Kepa
Arrizabalaga, the club’s nominal No 1,
has struggled this season, and Willy
Caballero, who has played four of the
previous five rounds in the cup, is likely
to retain the gloves. “It’s difficult,
because we have competition in the
squad. As you’ve seen at times I’ve felt
the need to change it,” Lampard said.
“I always do it with the idea [to] win a
game, [to] be as strong as we can be,
with consideration of what opposition
is in front of us. And in big games like
this it becomes slightly more difficult
because I know how much players want
to be involved in these games.”Wembley Stadium
Kick-off 5.30pm TV BBC One
Radio talkSPORT and BBC 5 Live
Referee A Taylor (Eng)
Arsenal (probable; 3-4-3)Chelsea (probable; 3-4-3)MartinezCaballeroBellerin Xhaka Ceballos SakaRüdiger Zouma AzpilicuetaPulisic Giroud MountAlonso Kanté Kovacic JamesHolding Luiz TierneyPépé LacazetteAubameyangARSENAL V CHELSEA
While Luiz, Lampard’s former team-mate, aims to secure Arsenal their 14th FAWenger is still helping
which we managed to achieve, I don’t
need a phone call or a message, or
recognition or anything like that,
because my job when we come fourth is
to think about how we finish higher
next year and close the gap.”
Asked if he expected to receive a call
from Abramovich over the summer,
Lampard replied: “I wouldn’t expect
anything, and I have a very close rela-
tionship with Marina and Petr. I can
speak to Petr, I can speak with Marina,
and we can work joined-up on how the
club’s moving forward. At the end of the
day, all of that will come through the
owner. It’s his club, his prerogative, and
we work towards the aims that we know
are the standards of the club.
“I would always obviously welcome
any call or any meeting, because this is
my life and I’m obsessed about how we
try to get to where we want to be. I don’t
need those calls, but I’ll be there if
they’re to be had.”
Lampard sanctioned the departure
of centre half David Luiz to Arsenal last
summer amid reports that there was
friction between the former team-
mates. Luiz has had a rollercoaster
season with plenty of high-profile
mistakes but he was superb in the
victory over Manchester City in the FAJames Gheerbrant, Molly Hudson THREE KEY CHANGES ARSENAL
MANAGER HAS MADE
By Paul Joyce
Years since Arsenal
failed to qualify for
European competition,
a fate they will suffer if
they lose today. Victory
will take them into the
Europa League but
defeat would see the
place reserved for FA
Cup winners instead
given to Wolves for
finishing seventh in the
Premier League25