Arsene Wenger’s proud unbeaten run in the third round of what’s now the Emirates FA Cup has stretched to 21 ties in 20 years.
The growth of the Champions League has pushed English football’s most famous trophy down the priority list for some, but our manager loves it as much as ever.
Read on for his latest quotes:
on how he would change the competition…
What do you want more? I think it was a great tie today. I came here with a team of quality, 80 per cent of the players who played today played at Bournemouth and the rest were out. But I think maybe the first round, the third or fourth round, people are a bit more [ambivalent]… but after when it gets to the final stages, everybody is absolutely focused on it.
I don’t know why people have not a positive opinion of the cup. It’s more the press I think. I think so. Inside our game, I would have been devastated if we had gone out tonight. So we are all focused to compete, really. Somebody reminded me yesterday that I had not gone out in the third round in 20 years. That’s because I care about the competition, but overall, no I think it’s every year a debate. For me it’s no debate, it’s a fantastic competition.
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