Barnet goalscorer Shaquile Coulthirst has admitted he wants to play Arsenal away in the FA Cup fourth round, with the draw set to take place on Monday evening.
Coulthirst scored the winner for non-league Barnet FC against third in the Championship Sheffield United over the weekend, in the shock of the round. Afterwards, he admitted he wants his club to draw Arsenal away on Monday night.
“I’m delighted for all the lads and the manager,” he said. “Who knows how far we can get? I want Arsenal away – I used to play for Spurs so it would be nice to beat them there.”
It’s become pretty common for players and managers from smaller clubs to say they want to play Arsenal away. Anyone watching the third round draw would’ve seen the celebrations from the Solihull Moors manager when they drew the Gunners. Of course, they then lost their replay against Blackpool, so it didn’t matter.
It makes sense that they’re so keen. Arsenal have a massive history, as the most successful side in FA Cup history. They have a big stadium with a world-class pitch, and you know they’ll give you an interesting game instead of sticking 11 men behind the ball.
Plus, Arsenal tend to rotate and start young players in cup ties. Others like Manchester City or Spurs showed at the weekend they’d rather start an almost full side of experienced first-team players, bringing on Harry Kane at 6-0 up, and so on.
In Coulthirst’s case, his desire to draw Arsenal is apparently more down to club rivalries, given the time he spent with Tottenham. We’ll see if his wish comes true.
