Arsene Wenger still sick from Carling Cup final defeat

Posted Tuesday, October 25, 2011 by The Sun

Arsene Wenger still sick from Carling Cup final defeat
AGONY ... Arsene Wenger

ARSENE WENGER admits he will forever be haunted by Arsenal's Carling Cup final defeat by Birmingham.

A last-gasp comical mix-up between Wojciech Szczesny and Laurent Koscielny allowed Obafemi Martins to roll in the winner at Wembley last February.

Arsenal went from a side chasing the Quadruple to also-rans — winning just three of their last 15 matches, finishing potless and fourth in the league.

Wenger said: "Yes, it will hurt me for ever because we never forget disappointments.

"That's part of life at a managerial level, you do not only have successes but disappointments, too. People forget we fought very hard to get there and, overall, we produced great performances in the Carling Cup last year."

Arsenal host Bolton for a place in the quarter-finals of the competition tonight and Wenger admits they are hungry to put things right.

The Gunners boss will ring the changes and fans can expect to see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain return to the starting line-up alongside Ju-Young Park.

He added: "There is hunger in this team no matter what competition. I don't question the hunger of my team, they have an exceptional attitude.

"You can see now at the Emirates our fans are behind the team because the attitude of the players is right."

Robin van Persie insists he has no problem with starting on the bench — and has warned Premier League defenders it will make him even better.

The Arsenal skipper has scored 30 goals in 36 games in 2011 but Wenger is worried his talisman will suffer from burn-out.

Wenger almost left him out of the victory over Stoke on Sunday but instead named him as a substitute. Van Persie, who came on and scored twice in the 3-1 win, revealed: "It was not frustrating at all.

"I spoke to the boss about it and we thought it was the right decision to make. I've been playing lots of 90 minutes in the last couple of weeks."

The Dutch striker, 28, believes rest can only help him improve on his current streak.

He added: "Hopefully, I can improve it even more. The main thing as a striker is goals but, for me, I'm not a striker like Drogba or Torres who are there to score.

"I'm happy how it's going but there is still room for improvement. Throughout 2011 it's been going well, it's quite new for me because I've never been on a run like this.

"But I love it and the main thing is to play an important role for the team."

Van Persie also praised £10.7million new boy Gervinho, who scored the other goal against the Potters.

He said: "Gervinho had one goal and two really good assists so he was man of the match — he is a great signing."