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By Chris Harris
Setbacks are commonplace in football. It's how you react to them that counts.
That's the view of Bob Wilson, and he should know. The goalkeeping legend experienced one of the biggest downers in Arsenal's history 40 years ago when Swindon stunned the Gunners in the League Cup Final. So he understands how the current squad are feeling after falling just short in the Champions League and FA Cup.
The anniversary of Wilson's Wembley woe passed by almost unnoticed in March but the 67-year-old remembers it well, and not just for negative reasons. Arsenal's class of 1969 bounced back from that shock defeat and won the ‘double’ two years later. Wilson hopes the current side can find a similar response to their own disappointment.
"I went to Swindon for the 40th anniversary of their League Cup victory over Arsenal, a game I played in, and they all took the mickey out of me," recalled Wilson.
"They reminded me of that Wembley defeat and it's all about how you respond to those disappointments. We were written off and a lot of the current squad have been written off, but we came back to win the first European trophy for this club [the 1970 Fairs Cup], and then the ‘double’ the following year. And that's the way these boys need to react.
"Obviously there is disappointment but how many clubs can say that they got to the Semi-Finals of the FA Cup and the Champions League?
"I think the way it happened at the end in the Manchester United game was really quite sad because even if it had been 1-0 then that might have been fine. When it was 1-0 in 10 minutes I was still optimistic but the killer goal was Ronaldo's free-kick and from then on it was such an uphill struggle.
"Considering how good the atmosphere was at the start of the game - like the end of the Highbury years, with all the flags - it was a bitter pill to swallow. And you either react to that in a positive or negative way. Hopefully this team can react positively."
[Wednesday, June 03, 2009]
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