News

Wenger on winning the FA Cup and Ramsey

Arsène Wenger

Arsene Wenger faced the media after his side's FA Cup final victory over Hull City at Wembley on Saturday. This is what he had to say:

on winning the FA Cup…
It is a relief and a happiness because of course we were under severe pressure to win today and we didn’t start well. Hull started strong and you could see we were hesitant and then we responded well. We made a demonstration on how to respond to being 2-0 down, and a demonstration on how not to start an FA Cup final! In the end it finished well so it is a big, big moment of happiness and we waited a long time for that. The happiness is linked sometimes with the suffering and the time you have to wait, so that is maybe why it was a great moment at the end of the game.

on fearing the worst at 2-0 down…
I was shocked. They looked dangerous on every set piece, we were hesitant and you wonder if the shock for the team will not be too hard. But this team has a special spirit and a special togetherness and I knew they would try to respond. It was important for us to get back to 2-1 before half time, then not to rush our game and keep calm and structured. Overall in the second half we had many chances.

"We made a demonstration on how to respond to being 2-0 down, and a demonstration on how not to start an FA Cup final!"

Arsene Wenger

on Cazorla’s free kick…
The mental aspect is very important in a game like that when everyone expects you to win. When you are 2-0 down of course you are under pressure - everyone thinks you have won the game before it started. But the cup final in England is special, you saw it last year and saw it again this year. It was an important moment in the life of this team, because to lose today would certainly have been a major setback. To win will be a good platform to build on to come back even stronger next year.

on how it compares to previous cup wins…
It was more important today than all the others. We have made twice the double, so you have already won [the league] so you are not under the pressure that we were under today. I have won it now five times, it is not too bad!

on winning most FA Cups with Sir Alex Ferguson…
I am in good company! Looking back at it, at our our run, it was amazingly difficult because we played Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton, Wigan in the semi-final - which was very difficult - and today. If you playa against any Premier League team they can pass the ball, they can create chances, they can score from set pieces and we have seen that today.

on a new contract…
That normally should happen, yes. We are in very normal circumstances now. It was never a question of leaving, it was a question of doing the right job to this club.

on what team can do next season…
You have to accept that the Premier League is very tough. If you look at the top four this year, you do not have Man Utd, no Tottenham, no Everton - all these clubs have invested a huge amount of money and the clubs who won the Premier League have invested an incredible amount of money so it is difficult to beat them. But we try.

on Aaron Ramsey’s performance…
He was not in the team of the year in England, so don’t tell me that. And he was also not in the writers’ team of the year and I think he deserved to be in there. He popped up at the right time again today.

See Full List

Fixtures & Results

Premier League
Ticket Info