Wenger: Milan pain will never leave me
The Gunners slumped to their biggest European defeat on Wednesday night when they were crushed 4-0 at the San Siro, effectively ending their chances of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.
The result has prompted calls for an overhaul of a squad that has failed to justify the faith of a manager whose own position is under renewed scrutiny. But Wengerdismissed one of the worstmoments of his 16-year reign at Arsenal as an “off day” and demanded an immediateresponse in today’s FA Cup fifth-round tie at Sunderland.
“It never gets out of your system because you take it with you until the last day of your life,” he said.
“You can find 100 explanations why we had a poorperformance and an off day.
“We lost against a goodMilan team, not an exceptional one. Unfortunately we were punished severely.
“It is important not to dwell on that too much, instead focus on the next performance,respond in a positive way and ensure we have the mental qualities to be at this club.
“We have put together a good series of results and we can consider that night was just an off day. We are focused on what we have done well recently because we go into a battle now where we needconfidence, belief and great commitment.
“We are in fourth position in the Premier League and we have an opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
“It is important that we are up for that and do not feel sorry for ourselves. I’mconvinced that we will produce the response we need.”
The FA Cup offers Arsenal’s last remaining hope of winning silverware this season with the Premier League and the Champions League beyond their reach.
Wenger accepts the competition has taken on greater significance following the club’s failure elsewhere.
“It is more important now. It was always important. It is the next game and, because we had a big disappointment in the last game, it becomes more important,” he said.
“But the FA Cup was always one of my priorities and therefore coming off the Milan game it becomes even more important. The team will be full strength. I will refresh it a bit because some players have played many games recently, but we will do the maximum to win this game.”
Centre-backs Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny are unavailable today.
The German international suffered ankle ligamentdamage during last Saturday’s Premier League victory against Sunderland thatrequited ankle surgery and he may have played his last game this season.
“Unfortunately he has had surgery and we have lost him for a while,” Wenger said.
“How long I don’t know. He had reconstruction of his ligaments, so it will be long term.”
Koscielny limped off shortly before half time at the San Siro, but the prognosis on his injury is far more encouraging.
“He had a scan yesterday and the news is quite good,” said Wenger.
“He will be out for hopefully around a week. He will miss the Sunderland game, but he should be back for next week.”
Gervinho has returned from the African Nations Cup, where his Ivory Coast side were beaten in the finalby Zambia, and should participate at theStadium of Light today.
“Gervinho was very down when I spoke with him on Monday. Now he is better and hopefully he can contribute tomorrow,” said Wenger.
For his part, Martin O’Neill is hoping his Sunderland side can intensify Arsenal’s pain today — but the former Celtic boss has warned unhappy Gunners fans that Wenger is the greatest manager the club has ever had.
The Sunderland boss, who has crossed swords with Wenger on the touchline in the past, insists his opposite number should not be condemned for the midweek pasting by AC Milan.
O’Neill said: “The Milan defeat has been heavy for them and I think they would admit that and that it was something they didn’t expect.
“AC Milan played very, very well indeed and Arsenal on the night didn’t do so.
“I am just hoping that the advantages we might take into the game, such as having had an extra rest this week and playing at home, will help us.”
O’Neill said Arsenal have found it tough to fill the gap left by Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri after their summer departures, and that the loss of faith in Wenger by some Gunners’ fans is unwarranted.
He added: “I think that is par for the course these days. His influence on English football has been immense and if he left tomorrow morning he would be considered Arsenal’s greatest-ever manager — and there have been some excellent ones.
“Much has been made of the fact they haven’t won a trophy for however many years it is but during that time they have qualified for the Champions League each year.
“They have lost some influential players this season that would be hard to replaceimmediately. But that’s notto say that they don’t have quality players or are notcapable of winning this cup.”
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