Yahoo News Gary Lineker's FA Cup Final preview
It's that time of year again. The sun is out, and all of a sudden the football season is coming to an end. Well, before it starts again in a few weeks.
And there's only one way to truly bring the season to an end in the UK: the FA Cup Final. It might not be the massive deal it was decades ago, but it still offers up a huge prize and what we hope will be a truly exciting encounter between Premier League champions Chelsea and an Arsenal side who might be about to say goodbye to their longest-serving manager.
To get into the FA Cup Final mood, we caught up with Match of the Day host and former FA Cup winner Gary Lineker, who gave us his own take on what might happen on Saturday, as well as football's other big questions right now, and whether a career in politics is in the pipeline.
What were your first thoughts about the Chelsea/Arsenal match-up?
"I thought it's a great final, isn't it? Two of the best teams in the country. Chelsea are clearly favourites, they've dominated this season and have been pretty emphatic. Tactically very strong. The best players in great form.
"Against an Arsenal side who've had their most disappointing season in many a year. But this is the FA Cup and it throws up some strange stories at times. With the whole Arsene Wenger story, whether it's his last game or not, you wouldn't put it past him to sneak a trophy in the cabinet!
"I think we're due a real blockbuster. I don't know why, but I've got a bit of a feeling about Saturday that we might have an absolute beaut. A real goal fest. I might be wrong, I often am."
Could this be Arsene Wenger's final game?
"I suspect the decision has already been made, I don't know. I find the whole thing a little bit bizarre, the way it's been handled. Probably it's not helped their season overall. I'm sure there must be some kind of reason for him not explaining what's happened, whether there's an element of doubt about what's going to occur after the final or whether there's some kind of negotiations behind the scenes.
"There must be something because I can't see what advantage it would be to anyone hiding the news whether he was leaving or staying. There must be some kind of ongoing dilemma or something to do with a contract that has delayed it so irritatingly for Arsenal supporters."
If Antonio Conte does the double with Chelsea, is that the best ever debut season for a manager?
"Unquestionably. It would be a massive achievement in his first season in charge of what is nowadays obviously a very competitive Premier League, with – you could argue – five or six big clubs going for the title rather than just two or three that we've seen in the past. He's done it impressively, he's a great personality, he's clearly got the players massively behind him.
"He's tactically very astute and gets the players working really hard for each other. They've always got a plan. They will be strong favourites going into the game, and I imagine most pundits will go for them. But in a one-off, you can never be totally sure."
Which players should we be looking out for?
"We always look for the big stars, don't we? Both sides have got them, there's no question about that. Chelsea's stars have been incredibly consistent this season. Their spine's very strong. They've brought in [N'Golo] Kante, which has made a massive difference to them, as I thought it might do. And obviously he's got the best out of [Eden] Hazard and [Diego] Costa in particular, having had a bad previous season. Those will be players you suspect will perform in the final.
"For Arsenal, their stars have been slightly less consistent, with the exception of [Alexis] Sanchez, who has pretty much always delivered. Obviously, they look like they've got a bit of a problem at the back now. A massive miss with [Laurent] Koscielny being stupidly sent off in the last game, so it's going to be a big test for them with a makeshift back four against a side who have been so prolific."
Is the FA Cup Final still a big deal?
"It's not the only circus in town like it was when I grew up. You never saw any live football on television when I was a child, pretty much except for the World Cup and the FA Cup Final. Understandably, it's not got quite the gravitas or magnitude that it had 40 years ago, but it's still a heavyweight trophy and sought after by players, managers and fans alike.
"It's a great day out, it's a big occasion, and it's the second most important trophy you can win domestically. So, of course it's still important, but I don't think anyone's pretending that it's quite as massive as it was. It was almost competing with winning the league when I was young. But it's still hugely significant, no question about that."
Is it important that the BBC still shows the final?
"I think it's important. There's a decent mix nowadays of football on terrestrial and satellite. You can see as much football as you want, if you're that way inclined, and can afford it, obviously.
"But at the same time, with Match of the Day and the FA Cup, we offer a decent amount of football just to keep people satisfied who obviously can't afford Sky and BT."
Do you agree with your Match of the Day colleagues' recent disapproval about players getting chummy in the tunnel before games?
"I don't know what the hell they were on about! I mean, come on, grow up. We're all adults, aren't we? We know when to start performing on the pitch and when not. I was always very chatty with the opposition if I knew them from England, for example. I think it's always been like that. The only difference is there were no cameras in the tunnel back when I played!
"People are just going back to the old [Roy] Keane and [Patrick] Vieira stuff. But we all know what Keane's like! You don't get too many of those. It doesn't make any difference if you win or not. It's a nonsense. These players play together for the national side as well – are they supposed to hate each other? Does it help your game if you actually overhype and hate each other? Course it doesn't. You've got to concentrate and be in control, which is very important, and you've got to be calm. If you're uptight, you can't perform. I think it's absolute codswallop."
Will football ever catch up with other sports in the technology world?
"I think football's been almost pompous in the sense of resisting technical changes, when other sports have done it so successfully. We're getting there, though. They're finally getting their heads out of the sand. It's not perhaps as important as with other sports because it doesn't stop-start. It's quite difficult in the sense of, how do you regulate offside? Forgive it and then it goes on, [but] how long do you let the play go, etc?
"But something like two or three appeals per game, something like that. The captain or manager can possibly make them, which would limit it to just really key decisions – goals, penalties, red cards, etc. I'm not quite sure why we've been so resistant. People say, 'But we can look at things 10 or 20 times on replay and we can't work out if it's offside'. Well, in that case, you just go with what the referee decided in the first place. There's ways around these things.
"The real reason they always said was that they want real football to be exactly the same at the top level as it is on Sunday morning football. Which is a kind of outdated, old fashioned, traditionalistic idea. It's big business nowadays, it's important.
"I think you want to try and get [with the times]. Goal line technology has been a great success. But there have been terrible decisions which ruin matches and destroy teams' hopes and aspirations – you don't want that to happen. And it only takes a few seconds to sort it out."
Reports claimed recently that you were being sought after to go into politics – would you?
"I'm interested in politics, I always have been. I have a view about certain things that I feel strongly about. But I have absolutely zero ambition to join the world of politics! I know other people have said that before, but no!"
FA Cup Final 2017 coverage begins on BBC One from 2pm on Saturday (May 27), with kick-off at 5.30pm.
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