Arsène Wenger has revealed that he would have fought on as Arsenalmanager last year even if the club had failed to end their wait for silverware that had dated back to 2005.
There is a theory that Wenger would have ended his 18-year reign as Arsenal manager last May if the club had either been beaten on penalties in the FA Cup semi-final against Wigan or not come back from 2-0 down in the subsequent final against Hull City.
Arsenal face Hull in the third round on Sunday in a repeat of a final that was ultimately settled by an Aaron Ramsey's extra-time goal. It was Arsenal’s fifth FA Cup win under Wenger and, within days, he had agreed a new three-year contract.
Arsenal face Hull in the third round on Sunday in a repeat of a final that was ultimately settled by an Aaron Ramsey's extra-time goal. It was Arsenal’s fifth FA Cup win under Wenger and, within days, he had agreed a new three-year contract.
Wenger admitted on Friday that it had felt like a "game-changer" for the club but Arsenal have failed this season to mount a sustained Premier League title challenge.
The 2-0 defeat at Southampton on New Year’s Day was even accompanied by the sight of a fan confronting Wenger in the dugout during the game. Wenger was also abused after a recent defeat by Stoke although Arsenal fans did then sing his name during the subsequent 4-1 home win against Newcastle United.
Asked if he would have walked away if Arsenal had lost the FA Cup final, Wenger said: "To walk where? No. I have just won my 600th game out of 1,000. That means I have won 60 per cent of the games and, after 18 years, it would not be serious to walk away for losing one game. I do my job as well as I can and I respect my contracts.
"We didn’t win a trophy for years and of course people want that. As well, 2-0 down after 10 minutes and they nearly scored the third. When you know football, normally that means you have very little chance to win so the fact we could turn it around and win was a fantastic relief."
The FA Cup is probably Arsenal’s best chance of glory again this season. They are 13 points adrift of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League although they do have what looks like a winnable Champions League draw against Monaco.
Wenger will definitely leave out goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny after his mistakes against Southampton, although he had always planned to use David Ospina in the FA Cup.
Mesut Özil returned to full training on Friday but is not ready to play a competitive match, while Theo Walcott should start for the first time in a year. Lukas Podolski is expected to complete his transfer to Inter Milan this weekend.
Laurent Koscielny is likely to be rested, with Per Mertesacker admitting that the entire squad could do with a short break so that previously injured players can gather fitness after being forced back.
He also admitted that the team had got what they deserved against Southampton after the defensive mistakes. "We suffered," he said. "At one point you want to be consistent in your line-up, especially back four. We haven’t had that. One comes back from a long-term injury and then he is just fit for two or three days and then he has to play. For example, Laurent. He cannot train for two or three weeks [before playing] because we have no players left. Players come back but they have to play immediately. There is no time or room for automatism or for the kind of things you need to prepare. We could [do with] a small break but we haven’t got a small break so we need to prepare ourselves for Sunday again."
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