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Once Upon A Time

If you think our squad is weak now and we should have bought more cover. There was a time when we had pretty much 11 players only and a few kids on the bench.

Back in 1994 we had made it to the European Cup Winners Cup Final.

Few gave us a chance of overcoming Parma. The Gunners were not the force we had been a few years earlier when we cruised to the league title. Ian Wright, our talisman, was suspended after a careless booking in the Semi-Final against Paris St. Germain. Midfield anchor John Jensen was injured while Martin Keown failed a fitness test on the morning of the match.

Graham was forced to field a couple of fledgling midfielders in Ian Selley and Steve Morrow, with Paul Merson and Kevin Campbell occupying the flanks while Alan Smith ploughed a lone furrow in attack. Fortunately the famous Back Four was in place while David Seaman was just about fit to play after pain-killing injections to numb his rib injury.

The Parma line-up was awash with individual talent from Swedish star Tomas Brolin to Colombia's Faustino Asprilla and Italian legend Gianfranco Zola. The Serie A side were red-hot favourites and showed why with a blistering start to the Final. Brolin hit the post and Asprilla forced a world-class save from Seaman as we were pinned back. It seemed a matter of time before Parma would score.

Instead, a goal arrived at the other end. In the 21st minute, a misjudged overhead clearance from Minotti fell to Smith on the edge of the area. He chested the ball down and fired in a left-foot volley which bounced in off the post. We had an unlikely lead.

We defended it with our lives. Lee Dixon, Steve Bould, Tony Adams and Nigel Winterburn were simply outstanding, ably protected by the tenacious Selley and Morrow. Seaman, when called upon, was unbeatable. Parma huffed and puffed but were repelled time and again. The Arsenal fans, waving their flags in the old-fashioned Parken Stadium, loved every minute of it.

The final whistle sparked wild scenes of celebration as the Arsenal players and staff hailed a stunning victory against the odds. 'One-nil to the Arsenal' filled the Copenhagen air.

posted on 3/9/15

I thought only chelsea had flags and were plastic...

I thought only chelsea parked the bus...

history?

posted on 3/9/15

But tactically Wenger has never been capable of pulling off a defencive masterpiece like that. Graham most certainly was and regularly did !

posted on 3/9/15

comment by Nickalopodis-Champions 14-15- (U9257)
posted 41 minutes ago
I thought only chelsea had flags and were plastic...

I thought only chelsea parked the bus...

history?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Noones ever denied that's how we played under Graham. Only stated that it's not done under Wenger

posted on 3/9/15

OP, you're going too far back for a lot of posters on here. They were young Man Utd fans in 94 so never saw that match

posted on 3/9/15

posted on 4/9/15

Graham out!

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