How i pray we win this....and force haters to drop the "8-year drought" phrase!

The 2005 starting XI was vastly superior to the one that will take the field against Hull this weekend. It was: Lehmann, Lauren, Senderos, Kolo Touré, Ashley Cole; Pires, Fabregas, Vieira, Gilberto, Reyes; Bergkamp (Henry was injured).

Arsenal fans, of course, just want to go to Wembley and have some fun. They want to put the last nine years aside, forget about soaring ticket prices and not think about why Wenger has not signed his contract, despite saying it was there on the table to sign (can nobody find a pen?). Lurking, though, is the fear that beating Hull in the final of the third most important competition will persuade the board that nothing needs to change and that Wenger can go on writing his own manifesto forever.