In his last news conference of the season, Arsene Wenger discusses team news, reports linking Arturo Vidal and Karim Benzema to the club and more ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Aston Villa.
Team news
Danny Welbeck will miss out on the FA Cup final as he fails to recover in time for the game, with Wenger saying: “He will not be fit for us or for England. That’s basically the only injury we have at the moment. Everyone else is available. Arteta is back in full training. We have no new injuries from the weekend.
“He would have been short anyway so I was prepared for that. When I saw Roy Hodgson last we were both confident that Welbeck would be available but we called the FA yesterday to explain that his bone bruising at the knee was not healed and that he absolutely had to rest.”
Good news comes in the form of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mathieu Debuchy being declared fit for the game. Wenger: “They are available. They are short of competition but available.”
Wembley excitement
Despite winning the trophy on five previous occasions, Wenger claims that the sixth remains just as important and that he still feels the same buzz.
“Yes, I get the same excitement.
“I get even more responsibilities because you know what it means for us, and I know that it’s not easy to get there. Once you’re there you want to win it
“I believe that going to Wembley is always a special occasion. I’ve had the luck to be there many times and for us it’s an opportunity to finish our season on a high and to reward the whole team with a trophy. That’s what you want to achieve.
“I cannot measure the pressure on me, but personally I am always the same when I go to big game like this – I just want to do it.
“Maybe last year the expectation level was more demanding – the demand was absolute last year. But we have our own demands inside the group here and we have high expectation for our game on Saturday and we want to do it.”
Subs can be the heroes
Arsene Wenger described the FA Cup final as a fixture ‘for the squad’, with memories of Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere’s impact last year ringing around in his head.
The Arsenal boss claimed that he has yet to choose his side: “I don’t know who will start yet and it’s not important because it’s just [about what happens] on the day in the FA Cup final,” the manager said. “What is important is that you bring the trophy back.
“I just think it is important to focus as a whole squad on winning the trophy. Most of the time the heroes are the people who come on in an FA Cup final – they make the difference.
“That’s why it is important as a reward for the whole team who have fought very hard the whole season to get there. Let’s deal with it as a whole squad.”
Christian Benteke
With Aston Villa forward Benteke reaching peak form this season in the recent months, Arsene Wenger is wary that his Arsenal side are going to have to handle the threat he will provide.
“He’s a player who has a massive potential,” Wenger said. “I think some of the bad fortune of Aston Villa this season was linked with the fact that Benteke was not there.
“When he came back into the team, he gave a lift to everybody and of course he has a fantastic leap, he’s an intelligent player as well and he can score goals with his feet. He’s fantastic in the air and can score headers against any team in the league.”
Tim Sherwood
Wenger also praised Tim Sherwood for Villa’s resurgence this season and gave the former Spurs manager a lot of praise.
“He has done extremely well.
“He has lifted their confidence and got them to go forward a lot. They are positive so overall I believe he has done a very good job.
“If you analyse their individual quality, they are a strong team. They had a great semi-final and of course they have a quality, Premier League team who have a lot of strengths in our side. They are a strong opponent.”
Why everyone loves Alexis Sanchez
Since joining Arsenal, Chilean superstar Alexis has been a real fan favourite amongst the Gooner faithful and Wenger puts that down to his attitude on the pitch.
“He is not missing a lot [of qualities]!” the manager said. “He has just been voted player of the year by the fans because he is very positive, who always wants to go forward, wants to hurt the opponent and he is also – what the fans like with him – a fighter.
“He is a guy who has a good combination of talent, combative aspect and fighting spirit. That is why he is liked by everybody here.
“Sometimes he is too demanding with himself, too quickly upset when it doesn’t go well for him and he has to learn to be a bit more patient and not to be too quickly upset.”
Development and progress
Last season, Arsenal finished fourth in the Premier League and won the FA Cup and when questioned if finishing third in the league and winning the same trophy would be progress, Wenger argued: “We think so. But we have been regularly consistent. We had a slow start this season and I feel the team has made progress through the season.
“It’s not easy to get to the FA Cup final and it’s not easy to finish in the top three in England. We have been remarkably consistent since January and that’s why I think we have a good chance next season.”
Over the last 12 months, Arsenal’s team has changed fairly drastically, with the signing of Alexis Sanchez a huge boost, Francis Coquelin’s emergence to the side, competition for places and a new ‘title-winning mentality’ all factors that have helped Arsenal develop this season.
“How much [we have developed] is difficult to say but we feel we have better stability,” Wenger claimed.
“We are more stable defensively than we were before and I think that’s a good basis to go from there. We still have some improvements to make but overall I think there’s a style of play that we set and our balance between attacking and defending is much better. We have a good opportunity to show that on Saturday.”
Interest in Karim Benzema
With the transfer window opening in the coming weeks, the rumour mill has started spinning and the latest player to be linked with the Gunners is Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema.
Wenger decided to remain coy on any links and said that until the FA Cup is decided, he will not think about transfers.
“You can suspect that at the moment I am not in a transfer mode. We’ll deal with the transfers after the FA Cup final. It’s all suspicions. Does anybody know if that’s true or not? I don’t know.”
Arturo Vidal
The Arsenal boss was also clever and witty in his response to questions linking Juventus star Arturo Vidal to the club.
“If I tell you I like him, you will announce the transfer just after that. If you want me to say I like Arturo Vidal, yes I like Arturo Vidal. Are we in a transfer mode? I say, no.”
Arsenal face Aston Villa in the FA Cup final on Saturday afternoon and we will bring you a preview of the game as well as much more over the next few days.
