Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger spoke to the media on Thursday morning ahead of today’s semi-final against Reading at Wembley.
Wenger discussed a number of subjects including team news, his semi-final team selection, Theo Walcott and the luxury of a good run of form going into the semi-final.
Team news
Wenger discussed team fitness news as usual and in particular Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal come into the game with an unfamiliar number of players to choose from including those who have recovered in time for today’s semi-final.
On Oxlade-Chamberlain and Arteta, the Frenchman said:
“We have a big squad available for selection and we just have Arteta and Oxlade-Chamberlain unavailable. Everybody else should be alright.”
When quizzed on how long it is expected that Oxlade-Chamberlain will be out for, Wenger said:
“He’s at least two weeks away.”
Semi-final selection
Wenger was asked who will start in goal for the Gunners on Saturday, with Wojciech Szczesny being Arsenal’s usual choice in the FA Cup:
“It will be Szczesny [who plays] on Saturday.
“This season he has played at Man United and he had a very good performance. I believe it’s important that the two goalkeepers get competition and he will get competition in the FA Cup now, as long as Ospina plays in the Premier League.”
The Arsenal Manager then discussed the importance of reaching the FA Cup final this campaign, declaring he would pick a side best suited to winning the game:
“It’s not a game that I look at as an opportunity for some individual players, it’s just an opportunity to go to the final, I will pick the team that, in my opinion, has the best chance to win the game.
“I’m concerned about finding a collective balance. That can include some of these players or not, but honestly, I haven’t decided who will start the game on Saturday.
“Everybody feels that it’s difficult to get in the team. All the players have top, top quality. Of course it’s difficult for me as well to make these kind of decisions.
“You do not ask anybody to understand that he doesn’t play because they all deserve to play. They have to accept it and to respect the decision, that’s what you want from the players.”
Theo Walcott
The Arsenal forward has fallen out of favour in Wenger’s selection this season and as such has been much rumoured to be looking for a move away from the North London side.
However, Wenger rubbished these talks and discussed his hopes for Walcott to build on his goals for the club:
“I believe that Theo has a great future.”
“He is just coming back from a very, very difficult injury. Every week he is getting better, he is very young and I believe he will have a great goal scoring record in the future because of the quality and intelligence of his game, and therefore I would like him to stay with our club.”
The luxury of a good run
Arsenal go into today’s semi-final on the back of eight wins in a row, a feat Wenger is very proud of and the French Manager has given his thoughts on what he puts it down to:
“If you look in Europe, there are only three teams that have won eight games on the trot.
“That means it’s not easy and that everything needs to click at the right moment, and that the confidence level needs to be there.
“[You also need] personnel available, to know each other better and have a better balance in your team between attacking and defending.
“It’s a luxury to have a good run because it doesn’t question one important thing in our job, the confidence of the team. But on the other hand as well, you need to keep the urgency level and the desire and the hunger at a very high level to continue it.”
Arsenal’s fantastic run includes three FA Cup wins, including the 2-1 victory at Old Trafford in which Danny Welbeck famously capitalised on a Luis Antonio Valencia mistake to score the winner.
Arsenal face Reading at Wembley Stadium today, with kick off at 17:20pm.
