Arsène Wenger believes Arsenal can put one hand back on the FA Cup with victory at Manchester United on Monday night, and he has no fears over the quarter-final tie or his club’s dreadful recent record at Old Trafford.
Wenger’s Cup holders have drawn one and lost nine of their previous 10 visits to United – their last victory came in the Premier League in September 2006, when Emmanuel Adebayor scored the only goal of the game.
However, the manager says his team have reason for encouragement, principally in terms of their away form and the manner in which they have stabilised after an erratic first half to the season.
Since the loss at Stoke City on 6 December, which triggered one of those outpourings of frustration and fury that have become a part of the Arsenal experience, they have won 14 of 18 games in all competitions. Wenger has attributed the indifferent form in the early months to a hangover for some of his players from the World Cup.
“The Cup tie against United is of special intensity because it is between two teams who have a chance to win this competition,” Wenger said. “Both teams will think: ‘If we get over this hurdle, we have a good opportunity to win the competition’.
“I don’t believe too much in history. I just believe in the performance on the day. At the moment, we are doing very well away from home. The size of the pitch is exactly the same everywhere, it’s just down to how much we turn up and how much effort we put in to win the game.”
We are confident from our Premier League run [seven wins in eight]. We feel we have the needed confidence. We go there to qualify and to give absolutely everything. That’s the target of the day – hard work, team effort and to give absolutely everything. We will go there to try to qualify, no matter how.”
Wenger said Wojciech Szczesny would start in goal if he recovers from a virus and it stands to be a chance for the goalkeeper to reassert his credentials, having lost his place in the Premier League to David Ospina.
It also feels like an opportunity for Mesut Özil to stamp his authority on a big game and answer the critics who believe that he decorates rather than designs games. Paul Scholes, the former United midfielder, has accused Özil of taking the “easy option” in signing for Arsenal and, also, of “going through the motions”.
“That’s a wrong statement,” Wenger said. “A player like Paul Scholes would have loved to play with Mesut Özil,” Wenger said. “Özil has a point to prove and he knows that. We are all in a job where, in every single game, we have to prove a point. I believe he has the quality, he puts a lot of effort in to help the team and he works much harder than his style shows.
“Özil works very hard. Because he is fluent, easy and supple he does not look like he puts the effort in – but he does. I knew he had a good physical potential, but did not know how good he was physically. He has a huge physical potential.”