Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny believes the players have matured a lot since their last visit to Wembley, which ended in a shock 2-1 defeat in the Capital One Cup final against Birmingham City.
After The Gunners saw off Ipswich Town in the Semi-Finals, they had to beat Premier League strugglers Birmingham, who beat West Ham United in their semi, but after a Szczesny and Laurent Koscielny mix-up in the 90th minute, Arsenal lost 2-1 and received a lot of stick for their shortcomings.
Much like this year in the FA Cup, Arsene Wenger’s men were strong favourites to lift the trophy, and with Wigan Athletic, Hull City and Sheffield United the only teams left in their way, The Gunners are strong favourites to end their trophy drought.
Szczesny, who was part of the costly mix-up in 2011, has been speaking to the club’s official website about their chances in the FA Cup, and he believes the players have matured a lot since that heartbreaking defeat.
“It’s huge – we know that we’re in a very strong position to win the FA Cup this year, and we’re two games away from doing so,” he told Arsenal Player.
“We’re at Wembley so we know how important it is for the fans and all the players. I hope it’s going to be a very positive day for the club.
“We had a bad experience recently at Wembley in the League Cup final. But [we’ve matured] a lot and we’ve got a lot more experienced players. Also I think that the likes of Jack and Aaron Ramsey and myself were only 18 or 19 at the time.
“We’re three years older now, we’ve got three years of experience under our belt and we’re more prepared for it.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
