Wenger claims magic of the cup is alive and well at Arsenal — for now

ARSENE WENGER does not feel the FA Cup has lost its romance — but admits there could come a time when success in the famous old trophy may have to be sacrificed for the greater good.

The Gunners have won the world’s oldest knockout competition four times since Wenger arrived at the club, the 2005 victory over Manchester United on penalties at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium being their last trophy.

Promotion hopefuls Leeds come to the Emirates Stadium for today’s televised third-round encounter, when Wenger will rotate his squad after a hectic festive schedule in the Barclays Premier League.

The Gunners boss, though, maintains the FA Cup will always hold a special place in his heart, even if at some stage later in the season a decision on priorities may have to be made.

“I said since the start of the season that I have a big squad and that we will go for all the competitions. [Today] for us our desire is to qualify, we take the FA Cup very seriously,” Wenger said.

“I believe it is what is was, because we are going back to Wembley for the final.

“Maybe people have lost the romance from the FA Cup a bit because there are so many Champions League games, and the Premier League has become massively important, but the FA Cup is still a big thing.

“The only problem we have had in the FA Cup is sometimes it is conflicting with the Champions League when you go far.

“I remember once we played Manchester United in the semi-finals at Villa Park, and then three days later we had a quarter-final of the Champions League.

“I played all of the same players, and in the end we lost the Champions League match late in the game.

“You think, ‘we should have sacrificed a bit more the FA Cup,’ so sometimes when you go further, it is conflicting with other competitions.”

Arsenal will rest the likes of Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri, Jack Wilshere and Laurent Koscielny today, while skipper Cesc Fabregas could also been given a break.

However, with men such as 10-goal Marouane Chamakh, Nicklas Bendtner, Andrey Arshavin, Kieran Gibbs and Emmanuel Eboue all set to feature, along with Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey, back from a productive loan spell at Nottingham Forest, Wenger maintains it will be anything but a weakened side that faces the team that knocked out Manchester United at this stage last year.

“I am very lucky because I have 25 players of a top, top level and to choose for any game is a big problem because I have an abundance of quality,” he said. “The team which plays [today] will be the freshest team and therefore the best available.

“We rotated quite well I think, we are not over tired and the squad is quite fresh and hungry.”