Wenger backs Arsenal's durability

Man United are now a best price 11/10 for the FA Cup after drawing Man City in the semi-finals…



Arsene Wenger is confident of his players' winning mentality despite seeing Arsenal eliminated from a third competitions in the space of a fortnight.



Arsenal lost to Birmingham in the Carling Cup final at the end of February, before losing to Barcelona in the Champions League and Manchester United in the FA Cup on Saturday.



The losses mean the Gunners are now only in contention for the Premier League and it has been suggested that Wenger's squad is lacking the steel required to win trophies.



Arsenal lie in second place in the league, three points behind leaders United with a game in hand.



Asked about his players' mental strength, though, Wenger retorted: "We still have it. I don't question that.



"It's been very difficult for the players, but they have never shown any sign of weakness mentally. Even on Saturday they have put absolutely every effort in and I can only be proud of how much they did fight.



"The only thing I can say is that I'm ready to give absolutely everything to win the title. Let's hope, and I'm confident we will, but we need now to work to recover.



"I believe we can do it. It's a good test now for us to show we can regroup, show mental strength, togetherness and respond quickly.



"We will have this kind of questioning for the next two, three weeks and we have to show we have an answer to that. We are used to being questioned - and we have to show we are strong enough to deal with that.



"We have a week without midweek games. That's the first time for a long, long time.



"We have steel. I don't question that. We played Wednesday against Leyton Orient, Saturday against Sunderland, Tuesday against Barcelona with 10 men and now against Man United.



"It's been very difficult for the players, but the players have never shown any sign of weakness mentally."



Wenger believes that, even if Arsenal do fail to win the title, they will still have surpassed expectations this season.



"If I listened to everybody then it is a miracle that we are playing for the title with ten games to go," he said.



"Nobody in England believed we could even fight for the top four. The fact we are in the position we are in, I think, deserves a lot of credit."



Arsenal face United on May in what has already been labelled a title showdown, but Wenger said that game would be irrelevant if Arsenal failed to win their games in the interim.



"I believe it will strengthen our resolve at home," he added. "The Man United game is only important if we win our games before that.



"I'm convinced if that game is decisive we will have a good chance to do it at home. But before that it's very important we respond very quickly. We have West Brom on Saturday. I think now what is most important for us is the next game."



Man United are now a best price 11/10 for the FA Cup after drawing Man City in the semi-finals…




View the Original article

Read More

The Reds Go Marching On - Crushing Arsenal's Cup Hopes

Watch Goals Here

Manchester United don't lose three in a row. After two disappointing losses against Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League, there was a wave of relief around Old Trafford when Fabio da Silva smashed the ball into the roof of the net to set United on track to overcome Arsenal. It was a fantastic team performance from a very much altered United side which saw some magnificent individual displays all round in a team which contained seven defenders.

Arsenal began well, keeping possession well when they had it and creating more shots in the first ten minutes than they did in the whole 90 at Barcelona in midweek. However, despite a bright start, Arsenal could not get past the quite amazing Edwin van der Sar who even at 40 displayed millions of reasons throughout why Sir Alex Ferguson is still attempting to persuade him out of retirement.

The two starting wingers, Fabio and Rafael da Silva combined to create a wonderful chance early in the first half as Fabio's cross was met by Rafael after a cutting run. Unfortunately, his header was not one from that of an experienced, prolific striker, but rather what he is; a right wing back, and his header went wildly over. It was however, a warning to Arsenal - these two were dangerous - and more was to come.

It was the goal that changed the game, and it came from Rafael. It was a brilliant move that would have been terrible if it wasn't finished with a goal. Fabio began the attack on the right, and feeding it to Rooney, continued his run. Rooney spotted the ever energetic Hernandez, and dinked it to him, and the "Little Pea" duly directed his header towards the goal brilliantly. Almunia kept it out, but pushed it into the path of the onrushing Fabio who smashed it into the net for the opener.

From then on, Unite has control, and played with confidence going forward and wonderful solidity at the back, with the Smalling, Vidic and Van der Sar keeping out the intricate Arsenal attack superbly.

Arsenal didn't create too much in retaliation, but a beautifully curling shot from van Persie which just dipped over the top corner of his compatriots goal, as well as a Samir Nasri's volley which bounced into the ground into van der Sar's safe hands. A Hernandez shot however, once again led to a United goal, doubling United's lead and giving Arsenal no chance of getting back into it.

Hernandez hit it in the box, only for Johan Djourou to get in the way. The blocked ball bounced up awkwardly and Rooney met it with a soft header which crept into the corner from the post. A flailing Sagna leg could not stop it, and as the ball nestled into the net, Rooney wheeled away with United fans overjoyed at the very likely possibility of an FA Cup semi final.

United held on well, and really could have scored two or three more goals but for a solid Almunia performance. Arsenal fans will be distraught after yet another trophy has slipped away from them. Not only that, but despite the fantastic sight of both Antonio Valencia and Aaron Ramsey returning to action after their terrible injuries, Johan Djourou was stretchered off with what looks a bad injury. The process of fixing him up, putting him on the stretcher and so on, took around six minutes, and we all wish him well in his recovery. It looked like a dislocated shoulder.

It was however, nice to see a Manchester United - Arsenal clash which for 90 minutes contained no bad blood or controversy. Then Paul Scholes came on. He received a yellow card for a rash tackle straight after coming on, and a few minutes into the injury time produced another slightly late tackle. It wasn't a bad tackle - he didn't get the ball, but didn't actually commit a foul. Arsenal players retaliated angrily, and a show of pushing and shoving began between a few players. Arsenal players were asking for a second yellow, but Chris Foy just gave him a stern talking to, which was a good decision.

If he had been sent off, we wouldn't have witnessed a truly beautiful volleyed pass to Rooney which saw United look for a third. Rooney crossed it to Chicharito but it was stopped by Almunia.

A fantastic game, which sees United cruise into the semi-finals of the FA Cup in search of their 12th win of the trophy. So many positives can be taken out of this game from Sir Alex, who may have been worried about a self destruction by his players towards the end of the season. It was quite the opposite to that, and United have a great confidence boost going into their Marseille game on Tuesday. On the other hand, it's time for Arsenal to push on and commit to winning the League.



View the Original article

Read More