Herbert Chapman 1878-1934
If I tell you that Huddersfield Town and Arsenal have a lot of history I mean it in the nicest possible way. We were both managed by one of the legends of football, Herbert Chapman (above). Chapman took Huddersfield Town to the dizziest heights possible in the 1920s - the FA Cup Final of 1921-2 and as Division 1 Champions of 1923/4 and 1924/5. In 1925 he left Town for Arsenal, dazzled at the prospect of doubling his salary to £2,000 a year. He stayed with Arsenal until his untimely death from pneumonia aged 55. As a manager he was ahead of his time. Among many other things he introduced physiotherapists to help his players recover from injuries faster, floodlights for evening matches and, when Huddersfield came to Arsenal, the idea of the two walking abreast of each other out of the tunnel - something all sides do to this day.
So what would Herbert have made of today's fixture in the fourth round of the FA Cup? His two clubs have followed different paths. Huddersfield are nowhere near as big as they were in his day, Arsenal have remained one of the top 5 clubs in England ever since his death. He'd have had to bet on Arsenal.
Me too. Going in to the match, with our young keeper Alex Smithies and our main striker Jordan Rhodes both out injured, I was hoping only for damage limitation. Please don't humiliate us on telly, Gunners, is what I thought.
For the first 20 minutes my fears were realised. We were overawed and couldn't put two passes together; everyone sensed it was only a matter of time before we were punished. Whether Arshavin was feeling sorry for us or Bendtner was having a laugh I don't know but they missed some sitters. However, after another embarrassing air-shot by Bendtner, he redeemed himself in the 22nd minute by getting his shot deflected in by captain Peter Clarke for an own goal. The replay, however, showed the pass from Arsenal's Chamakh to Bendtner was a hand ball.
As so often happens with Town, the goal against them helped to steady their nerves. Although up to that point they'd only had 18% possession, their passing became more assured, their marking more efficient. Nasri went off early in the game with a hamstring and then, amazingly, Squillaci was shown a red for a foul on Jack Hunt. After that we were a different team. Galvanised you could say. Game on!
In the second half we took it to Arsenal; they seemed at a loss as to how to contain us and Town striker Alan Lee's equaliser on 66 minutes was well deserved.
Twenty minutes before the end we were shown the ultimate respect - Wenger brought on superstar Fabregas. But you know what? Even that didn't daunt the lads in blue and white. They just kept calm and carried on, having chance after chance. But then, as so often happens, the tops sides get that little bit of luck. An innocuous-looking block by McCombe in the box awarded Arsenal a penalty in the 87th minute.
Fabregas, naturally, buried it.
So 2-1 to Arsenal but Huddersfield Town, by the end, had 58% overall possession and more shots on target. Herbert would have been proud. I know I am. But our achievement makes our 0-4 drubbing by Carlisle United in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy last week all the more annoying...
Read the report here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/9379082.stm
- Helena Pielichaty
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