One down but three left to fight for...

So the quadruple is gone after yesterdays disaster at Wembley but the treble is still very much alive. The question now is can Arsene Wenger lift the team for the challenges that lie ahead in the next few weeks?
If history is anything to go by then you would have to say no. Whenever Arsenal have suffered a big defeat in the past it has usually been followed by a series of poor results as Wenger's sulking seems to rub off on his team.
It happened in aftermath of the 49 game unbeaten run in 2005, it happened after the Carling Cup final defeat in 2007, it happened again after the 2-2 draw at Birmingham in 2008 and it happened last season after losing at Spurs in the title run-in.
Yes his side lost a cup final they should really have won but out of the four trophies they were chasing the Carling Cup was the least important so winning any of the other three would more then make up for it. It is not a time to sulk it is a time to stand up and be counted. The club are on the verge of greatness and they need to grab this opportunity with both hands.
I don't go along with the idea that the they had to win yesterday. It would have been nice of course but if losing at Wembley, and the manner of the defeat in particular, means they come back stronger then it would have a price worth paying. They should be hurting and they need to focus that pain on the tasks that lie ahead. They need to take it out on Leyton Orient, Sunderland, Barcelona and Manchester United over the next ten days.
But talking of the final yesterday, lets forget all this about rubbish how great Birmingham were. They weren't. Yes they played above themselves but Arsenal should still have won. The fact that Ben Foster was man of the match merely illustrates this point. And look at the Birmingham goals. The first would not have looked out of place at Stoke while the second was just a monumental cock-up in the Arsenal defence. They didn't have to work for them they were gifted to them.

Martins scores the winner at Wembley yesterday

The Gunners, on the other hand, played all the football and created all the best chances. Foster denied Samir Nasri on three occasions, along with good saves to stop Andrey Arshavin and Nicklas Bendtner, while Tomas Rosicky should have scored after a flowing move early in the second half. But credit to Birmingham, they made the most of the opportunities that came their way and ended up celebrating their first major cup success since 1963. Yes even longer then the current Arsenal trophy drought...
The important thing now is to forget all that. Its over. Done. The next four games are the ones that matter and will decide whether this season will be a truly monumental one for the young Guns or just another tale of what might have been. My hunch is they will probably blow it spectacularly but then I had a hunch they would beat Birmingham...