FA Cup top of Wenger agenda, at least for now

ARSENE Wenger made it clear this week that when it comes to the FA Cup, he’s the daddy. 

The Frenchman was quizzed about just what the prestigious competition meant to him ahead of Sunday’s sixth-round tie against Watford. 

Without missing a heartbeat the Arsenal boss seized on the question to remind everyone that his side is trying to win the oldest club competition in the world for a third successive season. “Do you know somebody that has won the FA Cup more than me?” said Wenger, who has lifted the trophy six times since arriving in English football. 

“That gives you your answer.” 

Wenger saw his side ease to a 4-0 victory at Hull on Tuesday to move to within one win of a return to Wembley. The result means Arsenal’s scheduled Premier League game against West Brom on Saturday was postponed and replaced by Sunday’s cup showdown against Watford. 

Wenger showed little surprise when he responded to the fact that his charges were now playing 24 hours later despite having a mammoth match away at Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday, in which the Gunners will be looking to somehow overturn a 2-0 defeat from the first-leg. 

“I would have loved to have played on Saturday but we don’t influence the schedule and we do not get any favours so everybody will be happy in England,” he said. 

“We sell football and we give it to the media to dictate the timing because we take the money so I won’t complain at all. 

“Right now we’re not thinking about Barcelona. What matters in football is the next game and the next game is Watford on Sunday afternoon.” 

Meanwhile Theo Walcott has admitted that following a run of bad results the Arsenal players held a private meeting in a bid to get their season back on track. 

The get-together was organised by senior players Petr Cech, Per Mertesacker, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky, and Walcott says it was just what was needed. “We are not going to lie – we know as a unit it has been tough and we all had a good chat among us behind closed doors, without any of the coaches or the manager knowing about anything. 

“It was a meeting to express how everyone was feeling basically and it worked. The manager probably knows about it anyway – he’s got ears everywhere at the club.”

Experienced Arsenal Heads Call Informal Meeting

According to Theo Walcott, four of Arsenal’s most experienced players called a meeting to stabilise Arsenal’s title challenge.

Petr Cech, Per Mertesacker, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky organised a player meeting on their own accord to get their premier league challenge back in motion.

Theo told Sky Sports:

“We are not going to lie – we know as a unit it has been tough and we all had a good chat among us behind closed doors, without even any of coaches or the manager knowing about anything. It is important that as a team we have got it in us.”

Domestically, Arsenal have suffered over the last few weeks after losing vital back to back games against Manchester United and Swansea which saw their title challenge being diminished. The mentality of the players was heavily scrutinised from supporters and pundits alike following the defeats. After the difficult period however Arsenal produced a fighting performance against arch rivals Tottenham.

Walcott added:

“We just have to produce it more often. You had a sense of the Tottenham game especially, when you go down to 10 men in a big game like that, the belief and the character was there. The never-give-up spirit was there as well. In the derby matches, they could be the matches that turn your season and we may have turned the corner.”

According to the Englishman, there has been a revival from the Arsenal squad as the players have shown a response following the meeting.

“We have quite a lot of experienced players in the dressing room. It came from Petr, Mikel, Per and Tomas. We have four good old heads there. I’d like to keep what was said among ourselves but it was very important. We have had a reaction from it.”

These actions from the experienced players contrast from current belief that Arsenal lack the mentality to win the league and hopefully will spur the boys on for the rest of the season. It is a shame that actions like this were not done prior to the back to back domestic defeats.