Arsenal are more prepared for this year’s semi-final

Arsenal are going to Wembley on Saturday for their second FA Cup semifinal in as many years, and Per Mertesacker has been comparing the attitude of the squad ahead of both games. Last years game against Wigan turned out to be a lot more difficult than expected and the Gunners only went through on penalties in the end, but Mertesacker feels that this year things should be a little easier. “We felt [pressure] last season a lot,” he told Arsenal.com. “No one expected us to lose, for Wigan to go through and that will be the case again.

“We are more prepared but you are never perfectly prepared. There will be different situations and the team will have to grow in the match again, we will have to face the expectations and pressure.

“But with our level of confidence and with the team in good shape at the moment, I’m very confident. The energy is really great in the team, we have a fantastic squad and the most important thing is that feeling.”

Mertesacker was a key player last season, scoring the equaliser near the end after giving away the original penalty that put Arsenal on the back foot. “That was really strange for me,” he said. “To foul a player when we got the penalty against us, I then had to put something right at the other end.

“That was really important because we created chance after chance and it looked like we could have played 1,000 minutes without scoring, so I had to put something right. I put something in my head of, ‘Now it is your turn’ and I kept going like that.

“Finally it happened, we went through to penalties, and Lukasz Fabianski had a great day and saved two. It was good at the end, and really exciting for a lot of fans – they were absolutely buzzing.”

Arsenal fans are certainly used to nail-biting finishes and that game (and the Final!) left a lot of Gooners drained emotionally by the drama, but I certainly hope that Mertesacker is right and we don’t suffer the heart attacks from last season. On form we should already be in the Final, so lets make this one a little easier shall we?

Tags Mertesacker Reading Wigan

13 Comments

  1. Well delivered, and the most important thing out from technical stuff, DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE Reading by any means. We certainly don’t want other Monaco’s defeat happen again. We should win this semifinal with style. COYG!!!!

      1. there are 2 legs…

        so Porto could get hammered at Bayerns’s Home or they could win or draw the game….

        its natural for the home team to win…..not always though

        1. but the FA cup is 1 leg bru….NO TIME FOR COMPLACENCY..best squad out and play like its semi-final, regardless of opponent.

    1. That will be great progress.
      1) Back to back trophies. Feels good after so many years.
      2) Beating Cheski and Mutd means Arsenal will be 2nd in league ( if Cheski don’t slip).
      Looking at last 15 years data…..45% of time EPL is won by team finishing second in league previous year. And this % increases to 65% if difference between 2nd and 3rd is more that 3 points. 2nd in table is a good omen for us for next year.
      Though I prefer Arsenal winning EPL this year (though it has never happened for team finishing 4th previous year in this century).

  2. It’s quite funny that fans from other teams keep saying the F.A cup is no big deal, but deep down they desperately crave their side to be where we are. It IS a big deal especially to win it consecutively which I am certain we will do this year. Concerning the BPL, if we can win all our remaining games, and Man United and one other team, perhaps Liverpool can beat Chelsea we can actually win it. The chances of Chelsea losing 3 games by the end of the season I know is being heavily optimistic, but they are playing two teams in extremely excellent form (us and United) so there is an outside chance it could happen. Just imagine fellas, the F.A cup and League title…what an achievement that would be. If not this season, next season for sure…

    1. Only problem wit that is Chelsea would still be 1 point ahead so theyd have to draw some games or lose more than 3

  3. Good morning Admini, and how are you people doing over there this morning? I am fine here at my house in Zaria, Nigeria. So, Praise God. Halleyah! Amen! Let me assure every Gooner not to anticipate any upset causing at Wembly against us by the Royals of Reading FC. Thus, there won’t be any heart attacks suffered by any Gooner. In contrast, we will be joyful attacked as the Key to unlock the Steve Clerk’s UPSET CAUSING APP MEMORY DATA GAME PLAN is now made available for the boss to constitute the Gunners Starters and start them to infiltrate Steve Clerk’s Upset Causing Game Plan and dismantled it. Consequently, 4 Royal members of the Reading FC, will suffer an act of dis-royalty from the Gunners with no charges instituted against them thereafter. The boss could even have the comfort to rest nearly all his preferred current first team starters for our title winning game at home against Chelsea. Save Rhinosacker, Sanchez and Ramsey, without entertaining any fears whatsoever. AFC 4-0 RFC FT 90” +. My starts: Szczesny…DebuchyRhino’De-AbreuGibbs. FlaminiArteta. RamseyWilshereSanchez. Welbeck. All other current top Gunners should start from the bend to rest and conserve energy to excorcise Jose Monrinho’s Devil strangle hold on our beloved boss.

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