FA Cup Aftermath

Cesc, Wenger admit Man Utd rattled Arsenal

Cesc Fabregas and Arsene Wenger admit Arsenal's FA Cup humiliation at Manchester United has hurt them. "We will go nowhere playing like we did on Saturday," said Cesc. "I don't think I left my house at the weekend after that game. I just stayed in, watching the tape of the match and thinking about the mistakes we had made."We all have to realise we are not perfect and that there are still things we need to improve. Individually, everyone must be better.

"Wenger admitted the severity of the defeat by their biggest domestic rivals had hit every first-teamer hard.He declared: "All the players were very quiet on the first day back in training. Who wouldn't be hurt by a defeat like that?

"We want to be the best possible but had a bad day. When you have such a big disappointment, you can sometimes forget just how good you are."When you are at the top level, people always expect the worst of you. So now it is down to us to prove we have the quality to cope with this situation. But what is most important is our biggest targets are still in front of us."We are five points ahead in the Premier League and have a fantastic opportunity in the Champions League."

Gallas blasts Arsenal teammates over Cup humiliation

Captain William Gallas has turned on his Arsenal teammates over their dismal performance in Saturday's FA Cup defeat at Manchester United. "When you play against teams like Manchester United or Tottenham we have to be ready for the fight, and all the games that we have lost we weren't ready," said Gallas, who has seen Arsenal lose at Sevilla, Middlesbrough, Tottenham and now United this term.

"I'm sorry but we just weren't ready. We have to change our mentality. When we are on the pitch we have to fight before we can play good football."When we play away we have to fight, and we didn't fight on Saturday. Winning the Premier League and Champions League are dreams, but to get those dreams you have to fight."Tomorrow it will be different as we play at home and we have to play our game."

Man Utd boss Ferguson: Not just Gallas targeted Nani

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has blasted the roughhouse antics of Arsenal during Saturday's FA Cup victory. He rapped: "There is one law for them and another for everyone else." Wiley missed a kick by William Gallas at Nani and then refused to take retrospective action after seeing a video replay.Nani was also fouled more than once for alleged 'showboating'.

Ferguson added: "I haven't anything to say about Gallas.We kind of expected that.
"Justin Hoyte had a kick at Nani off the ball and their young left-back, Traore, had a terrible tackle on Nani as well."There could have been three or four red cards."The ref had a hard game in the second half. There were so many things happening."

Wenger Slams 'Disgraceful' Old Trafford Pitch - Arsene Wenger was highly critical of the Old Trafford groundsstaff following their FA Cup demolition at the hands of Manchester United, but stopped short of blaming the defeat on the "disgraceful" pitchArsenal were played off the park last night, though the French manager suggested that it was a park that did not deserve to be played on at all.

"The groundsman had as bad a day as us," Wenger sniped."You will see us in a different shape when we come back and a different pitch."The pitch is a disgrace. You have players worth £20-25million and you cannot play a pass without it bouncing."Wenger did admit that they were beaten by the better side on the night, but will doubtlessly be looking forward to more hospitable confines against AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday."It is difficult to find any positives from the performance, apart from the fact we do not have any more injuries," he said.
"Even before the sending off we never looked like we could come back.

"It was difficult. We did not seem the have the physical resources that were needed."We were not up to our level. We need to pick ourselves up quickly because we have a massive game on Wednesday and need to be at our best against Milan."