FA Cup final is about Arsenal not me, says Wenger
LONDON: Arsene Wenger insists that Saturday’s FA Cup final is about much more than him and his future, and revolves instead around Arsenal’s drive to beat Premier League champions Chelsea and end a troubled season on a high note.
The 67-year-old Frenchman has constantly refused to give a definitive answer on whether his current contract, which expires at the end of the season, is to be renewed. It is the issue that has divided Arsenal supporters for months, with many vociferously calling for him to end his 21-year stint. Wenger has also admitted the uncertainty contributed to the club’s first finish outside the top four in two decades.
Once again he declined to clarify his personal position to journalists Wednesday, but did make it clear that if his weekend date at Wembley did turn out to be a farewell it would be from Arsenal, not the game itself.
“This will not be my last match anyway because I will stay, no matter what happens, in football,” he said.
The Cup final could also be a swansong for Alexis Sanchez, whose agent is known to have spoken to German champions Bayern Munich this week. Indeed, the forward was listed as a Bayern Munich player on a Confederations Cup squad list by his nation, Chile, apparently by mistake.
BLUES TARGET DOUBLE
LONDON: Antonio Conte has already surpassed expectations in his first year as Chelsea manager and a victory in Saturday’s FA Cup final would complete arguably the greatest season in the club’s history.
A second Double, following the one completed by Conte’s fellow Italian Carlo Ancelotti in 2010, was not even on the radar last August when all the talk was of an expected battle for supremacy between Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.
Chelsea skipper John Terry, who will leave the club at the end of the season after 22 years, said that anything other than a win would tarnish their achievements. “You work all season long to be where you want to be and lift that trophy so the lads are fully focused,” five-time Cup winner Terry, who is likely to be on the bench on Saturday, said on Wednesday. “I’ve been on the receiving end of losing Cup finals and it’s not a nice feeling on the last day of the season.”
CANCEL PARADE
Chelsea have cancelled a planned victory parade in London on Sunday in light of Monday’s bomb attack in Manchester.
Arsenal later announced that they were cancelling a planned screening of the final, to have been staged at the Emirates. The club also said there would be no victory parade were they to beat Chelsea.