In his most recent news conference, Arsene Wenger assured fans Arsenal will take the FA Cup as seriously as ever this year. The Gunners are the current holders of the trophy, beating Aston Villa 4-0 to retain the cup in a much less nerve-wracking final than the north London side had competed in the year before.Arsene Wenger clearly holds the competition in high regard, the Frenchman is the joint most successful manager the FA Cup competition has seen, winning it six times. Arsenal
Arsene Wenger clearly holds the competition in high regard, the Frenchman is the joint most successful manager the FA Cup competition has seen, winning it six times. Arsenal are also the most successful club to feature in the competition, winning it 12 times and more recently overcoming the nightmare trophy drought in 2013 that they had suffered since their last FA Cup success in 2005.
Arsenal face Sam Allardyce’s Sunderland on Saturday in the third round of the cup, and the north East side’s boss stated he will be willing to give fringe players a chance. Arguably, the FA Cup will take less precedence for Sunderland, having much more domestic struggles than Arsenal, sitting 19th with just 15 points thus far with a much smaller squad.
The two manager’s have a fiery history, most notably during Allardyce’s spells at Bolton and Blackburn. The contrasting ideologies of style of play has caused conflict in the past, although in recent years their rivalry has seemingly died down.
Arsene Wenger had his say on England’s oldest cup competition, as reported by the club’s official website.
We want to win every competition we participate in.The FA Cup is one of them, for us it is an important competition. Confidence is a global thing and you can’t really separate it from one competition to another.
The FA Cup is one of them, for us it is an important competition. Confidence is a global thing and you can’t really separate it from one competition to another.
My energy is about giving absolutely everything to win the next game. The next game is the FA Cup. For us it is a very important competition as always.
We just this week had the semi-finals of the League Cup. The teams gave absolutely everything. I saw Everton against Manchester City and it was a top-class game. That’s what you want – the teams to commit. At our level, you do not choose when you commit and when you don’t.
This is a serious competition. I’ve won the FA Cup six times – that means I take it seriously. In the whole history, nobody won it more. That means as well that it’s not so easy to win it. You want to feel as well that your team is ready for every single challenge and the FA Cup is one that matters to us.
Wenger holds the trophy in high accord, highlighting the importance in attempting to compete on all fronts in order to be successful and maintain momentum, which will inevitably affect Arsenal’s title bid – arguably their strongest in years.
Comments.
Loading comments…