Wigan boss Uwe Rosler says that the fact his side are complete underdogs, and that the FA Cup remains Arsenal’s only hope of a trophy this season, means there’s extra pressure on the Gunners ahead this Saturday’s semi-final.
Arsene Wenger’s side haven’t exactly coped well with some of the expectation on them this season, and after a dire run of form which has seen them go four games without a win, they could feel the heat even more at Wembley this weekend.
“Everybody highlighted the fact Arsenal now really have to go for the FA Cup and win the FA Cup,” said the Wigan manager. “Their own players said that this week and obviously that puts a little bit of extra pressure on Arsenal.”
And highlighting the Latics underdog status, he said, “We’re going to Wembley and we’re meeting a top team in the Premier League. We are the massive underdog but we have presented ourselves so far in a very, very good way.
“We’ve made our supporters proud and we’re going to Wembley; we can’t lose, we only can win.”
They really do have nothing to lose and that can be dangerous. Not to mention the amount riding on this game from an Arsenal point of view could be paralysing.
Let’s just hope the experience in the side comes to the fore and that the excellent form we’ve shown in the cup so far this season continues.
Lets hope for the best
No, I say let’s kick the shit out of them, then grab the shit, then make them eat it, then punch their dog, then tell them all scary stories and then have beers. That’s what I say.
That’s not necessary. A win is enough. They can talk all they want but newspaper clippings don’t decide matches.
Besides, I’d hardly want to handle beers and pub food after we “grab the shit”…
For goodness sake, lets not handle pub food with shitty hands. Lets wash our hands directly after we make them eat it. But lets do it with vim and vigor (Santi) No protests about the dog bit though? Heathens.
Nah that’s not fair… Wigan have done us a huge favour by knocking Man City out, a win is enough!
Literally what the hell has happened to this club… We’ve come from winning league titles unbeaten.. .. now there are total chumps in charge of gash teams like Wigan believing they can get a result against us? In a Cup Semi Final??.. Go back a few years ago, Wigan’s players, staff, fans would of creamed their collective pants to be drawn in a semi final against us.. now they genuinely think they can get a result.. Pires, Henry Ljungberg, Parlour, Bergkamp would of absolutely smashed these jokers.. Something has to change at this club before its too late and we… Read more »
Lets go and teach them lesson..come on you Gooners
I’ve never really quite understood the “we’ve nothing to lose” line. Erm, the trophy perhaps?
Nobody expects them to win it. If they lose it’s “oh well” and nobody will really care but if they win it’s a huge deal.
On the other hand, if Arsenal lose it with such “low” opposition remaining, it would be perceived as a massive failure.
Massive? More like routine failure or haven’t you been watching?
They’re the current cup holders. Seems like they have something more tangible to lose than we do.
I want djourou to tell us its all going to be ok
Oh god a wigan manager is playing mind games on us
I for one am scared shitless. Let’s fucking hope we get this result… the very thought of us losing makes me pee a little.
Fingers & Toes crossed COYG ###
They’re no mugs. To beat man City at the etihad is impressive.
“Oh god a wigan manager is playing mind games on us”
Lolcano just erupted!
As narked off as I am with almost everyone involved with the team, I still can’t see us losing this
Gave you a thumbs up just for using the word narked….good work!
Top use of vocab
There is no pressure from me. I have learned not to expect much from Arsenal. I just cheer whenever we score
…and you’re probably not alone. Shame it’s come to this really.
“I just cheer whenever we score.”
There’s a life lesson in that. A beautiful simplicity. One could be quite happy living by that wisdom.
It’s a shame I never seem to learn my lessons.
“There is no pressure from me. I have learned not to expect much from Arsenal. I just cheer whenever we score”
That’s deep dude.
im not worried about Saturday, im just thinking on the final …
Get the KY out Rosler, you’re gonna get a huge cannon shoved up your aris on Saturday!
COYG!
Arsenal is a wounded animal right now and you know what they say about a wounded animal! Come you gunners pull something out of your rear and beat Wigan!
Wounded Yes, I guess from all the torture inflicted over the last few months.
i miss the days when players, the manager and the fans believed that we would win no matter who the opponent was. then it changed to we could win against anyone if we had a good day. since when did we become a team that could win if we tried?! that is reserved for lower teams. the sad part is that if we beat the likes of chelsea or man city it is considered an upset.
money
The horror….the horror. It could happen….
Beat Wigan, cups ours,
I’m just sayin’
This is the best time to get a big win and get our confidence back. Ramsey will get a start, Ox will get a run ahead of rosicky/cazorla i guess. Something like 3-0 will give some confidence because we might face some tough action with west ham. Also hope, Giroud to get some goals.
Pressure is completely on us. We have to deliver something (plus the minimum finish of 4th) We are on a poor run and confidence is sapped from too many heavy defeats Rosler knows this and is turning the screw. Wenger has got to get his selection right. Ramsey’s return and energy is an added plus. chamberlain must play wide right for us. I hope Wenger does not over extrapolate and play Arteta-Flamini. We need a bit of drive and invention. My inkling would be to rest Arteta who looks extremely leggy. Flamini and ramsey with Santi ahead. Defense needs to… Read more »
Isn’t Flamini suspended?
yeah fraid so….looks like it may have to be Kallstrom
It could be worse mate, we could’ve been facing City on Saturday.
Perspective.
Or a 12.45 kick off….
The FA Cup is our only hope of silverware , come on fellow Arsenal fans lets support the team till the end. We know some moments this season Arsenal let us down, but when our captain lifts that cup we will feel such joy and happiness, that some of us will celebrate like we have won the champions league (me), too much? sorry…
This was a great season for us and to end it empty handed is going to be so bad & sad… so Keep the faith because Glory is coming!COYG!
Isn’t Ozil back?
Last statement was this would be too soon. Unless he comes back ahead of schedule.
Oh no Wenger can’t handle these Mind games.
Guys let’s get behind our boys, they are all we’ve got (for now). Lets give them all our support and break this Jinx.
While I want a trophy I’m much more concerned about the champions league spot.
CL is a huge draw to get world class talent to this team. Pretty sure that if we win the FA Cup but end up in Europa League no one will give a damn about the FA Cup, trophy or not.
Why can’t it be both?
Exactly. I want a pint and to pull the tidy barmaid.
I’m not worried about the game. We’ve been excellent in the cup so far, regardless of what’s been happening in the league.
That being said, I am worried about the reaction if we were to lose. There’ll be Internet riots on sites such as this.
Who gives a shit what Rosler has to say. Same old crap as any other manager would say.
He’s just jealous of Sagna’s flowing golden locks.
Let’s give it all for silverware! COA!
A Wigan manager playing mind games with Arsenal…. Now I’ve seen it all.
He was playing murinho trick of putting the pressure on favourites. Let’s see which arsenal turns up on Saturday. The one which lost to Chelsea or the one that beat Bayern in their home ground.
Flamini is suspended I believe
Is this not a contradiction? Arsenal dont respond to pressure. So there is no one thinking we’ll win.
Im sure well get thru . Super rambo and santi
COYG!
Teams with considerably less resources than us have consistently been “overachieving” over the past two decades while we’re stuck with an average manager who was just a benefactor of circumstances.
Not true.
he built much of the invincibles including the defense.
he also turned henry from a winger into a world class forward. kolo Toure into a fantastic defender, bought Sol Campbell, more recently put together Meterscielny who have been excellent all season. he also turned Arteta into an effective CDM for us.
Bought the likes of Petit, Viera, Llungberg, Flamini, Fabregas.
the only teams that have won the title are United, Chelsea and City all of whom had/have considerably more resource than us.
Are you mentally challenged?
Really interesting night in the Champions’ League. With United being knocked out at least we know for sure that if we finish 4th then we will qualify. I thought that United didn’t do too bad over the two legs: had they taken their chances they may well have gone through, and Bayern we lucky with two of their goals tonight. And Athletico Madrid have brilliantly demonstrated just how much difference a first class manager can make to a club. With a fraction of the money available to Barcelona – or Arsenal – Simione has taken his side to the semi-finals… Read more »
Atheletico have been a revelation.
One of the best teams this season by far.
Wenger will have to keep a keen eye on that squad for sure.
Much of the squad though are very experienced players 28+. Good for stop gap but maybe not as much up side long term.
Athletico are not known for spending buttons. They sell big and buy big. I dont know about their financial state after cup wins under Simeone, but not very long back they were in dire straits. About Simeone, he is a former Athletico player and has pretty big fan following there. It has to be seen whether he can make the same effect elsewhere.
Yeah, I agree with this….but my god, they were good last night. Strong, fast and utterly fearless
I could watch only first 15 minutes and they were awesome in that period. Weak as they are now, I have not seen any team put Barcelona to sword like that. Athletico was certainly not afraid of reputations.
500 million (€ probably, don’t know), but that is a hell of a lot of money to owe. Also, their wages are 90% of their revenue. Sounds familiar.
Our final is the Wigan game! I hope our players remembers it was us who send down Wigan! So their team talk already taken care of.
Hate to say it but I think there will be a poo storm after this game when we get dumped out after another insipid performance – sorry guys for the negativity but nothing I’ve seen or heard is inspiring any confidence in me that the boys have the mentality to win!!!!
Don’t agree with you. We’ve been flat-track bullies all season; the problems have all come away to the better sides. We have the players to see off Wigan. Hull in the final will be a much tougher test. Wigan will battle for it, but our class should make all the difference.
Yes, this. But then there’s the draw with Swansea, and the Stoke loss (which was when the players seem to have decided the game was up, as Cazorla noted). That’s five points in the last few weeks that we probably would have bagged earlier in the season, five points that would have still seen us with a very small, outside chance of the title right now. But Ramsey is back. If Kos is fit I won’t worry about defense. This kind of shit can’t go on forever. If I had to bet I’d say we’ll win the cup and hold… Read more »
@Fatgooner: the problems have come when we’ve faced pretty much any side with our current injury situation that sees us bereft of incisive players and seriously lacking confidence and cohesion. 2 points out of the last 12 available, including two embarrassing away losses. Last time we clicked was more than a month ago, also in the FA Cup, when Ozil had arguably his best game for us since December.
Suck it up you pansies
Aye, it’s fucking Wigan!
“we can’t lose, we only can win.”
Unbelievable hubris, hope we smash them now.
With all due respect Rosler, go fuck yourself. We have been shite for weeks which means that there is no way we will underestimate you as Man City did.
Your Cup run ends this Saturday…..
Please win the FA cup, i don’t mind even if we finished 5th.
Starting line-up:
Fabianski
Sagna Met Koscielny Gibbs
Kallstrom Ramsey
Gnabry Ox Rosicky
Bendtner
Well if all are fit!!!!!!
Rosler is the opposite of Wenger. He dont have a specific philosophy, but he rather sets up his teams to disrupt the oppositions wat of playing. In Arsenal he will get a dream opponent like he calls it himself. The reason being that Wenger got a philosophy etched in Stone which will be followed rigidly, so Rosler will inow exactly how Arsenal will approach this game. And we can be certain that he will have been drilling his players in how to counter the Wenger style of play all week long. In an interview a year ago or so Rösler… Read more »
This is the danger. Wenger tends to adopt a hands off approach. Our team look lost for guidance where Wenger waits too long and we are punished by the time he makes any effective subs. Two things that Mourinho does well, he manages the moments in the game and intervenes incisively and quickly. He also insists on his team to transition quick. The moment the ball is turned over is the opportunity for the team to break down the opponent. We have been ponderous at times with our build up. When you see City, chelsea or Liverpool (or even Everton),… Read more »
I agree with you on a lot of points. I hate Mourinho as much as anyone here but he isn’t afraid to sub at the half, bench star players, and act arrogant. But you know what? As much as I hate him, one can’t question what he has accomplished at his age. The problem with Wenger’s hands off approach is that he used to have teams filled with intelligent leaders who could organize themselves or didn’t need a pep talk. Do you think Viera, Pires, Henry or Adams were ever accused of being mentally weak? Partially due to injuries, there… Read more »
Either that or we rape them on Saturday and send them home crying like a bunch of girls.
Reckon you might need to lay off the steroids
BTW this guy Rosler looks like that cretin Danny Murphy…but with an actual brain.
The philososophy of wenger has helped us in previous seasons when we were having no big players but a good group. Every year we played and qualified from the group stages. New era managers can talk all day long about the game, but when it comes to the crisis, the old guard stood the ground. New era managers dont plan for more than 2 3 year. what happened to michael laudrup. He was hit by injuries to few key players and now there is no real madrid or arsenal talks. Every one wanted moyes and now every one want martinez,… Read more »
Wenger can still have Arsenal play the Arsenal way but if he uses specific players strengths in a particular way to surprise his opponent.
For example, Martinez playing Lukaku on the right wing. He knew he could bully our left sided players. “Cunt-inho” playing 3 strikers for the champions league game against PSG essentially playing a 4-2-4.
Pep never changed Barca’s style of play but used a players ability to create some different against his opposition.
Arsenal can win playing the Arsenal way with style & flair. COYG!!!
I dont think it matters what happens on Saturday. If we get knocked out, we will definitely win something next year because Wenger will probably sort it out. And we will have money to spend next year. At the moment we are the poorest team in the league.
Still think we will get beaten!!!!
Starting line up fabianski Sagna vermalen mertesaker Gibbs ox Ramsey kilstrom rosicky gnabry sanogo
Im scared of this match…think i’ll go on a bender in Copenhagen.
Sorry, i meant a bendtner.