Arsene Wenger believes the confidence his Arsenal side
have taken from their Champions League first-leg triumph over
Barcelona can inspire them to win an astonishing four trophies this
season.
He insists the Gunners will show exactly the same hunger and
commitment against League One Leyton Orient in the FA Cup on Sunday
that they demonstrated against the Spanish giants on Wednesday.
In stark contrast to recent seasons, when Arsenal have
prioritised the Premier League and the Champions League, Wenger is
set to field a virtual full-strength team against Orient.
"We want to go for every single competition," he said.
"How far will we go? I personally believe we can go in every
competition to the end… but we can as well stop very
quickly.
"It's just down to how much we believe and how much commitment
we show.
"What I am convinced of is that we have the hunger and we have
some talent and we are committed to going as far as we can."
Arsenal are already in the final of the Carling Cup later this
month against Birmingham, lie second in the Premier League, four
points behind Manchester United, and their home win against Barca
gives them an opportunity of progressing to the quarter-finals of
the Champions League next month.
"Our destiny will be made by how we focus every time, how much
we can mobilise our resources in every single game," added
Wenger.
"The intelligent attitude will be to just worry about the next
game and the next game is Leyton Orient. We had tough games against
Leeds, tough games against Ipswich, a tough game against
Huddersfield. We have been warned how difficult it is.
"We can gain more respect from everybody if we turn up on Sunday
with absolutely full commitment. Then people will say this team is
ready to have a real go and not choose the competition or the
games.
"When you are a top-level competitive person or team you go
absolutely 100% committed into every game."
Theo Walcott is likely to have recovered from a slight hamstring
strain, while Johan Djourou is responding well to treatment on a
back injury.
Wenger is likely to rest centre-back Laurent Koscielny, who felt
"very tired" after the Barcelona match, but a full-house at Orient
will be treated to most of the stars who just a few days earlier
defeated the team universally recognised as the best in the
world.
Almost certainly that will include 19-year-old midfielder Jack
Wilshere, who gave a supremely mature performance against Xavi and
Andres Iniesta on Wednesday.
Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas described Wilshere as having an
"English heart with Spanish quality" and Wenger said: "Spanish
technique, certainly.
"He has an English heart because he is an English boy. He just
loves to win, like all the other players in my team.
"He takes everything at the moment with a cool head and that's
what I like. When you are at his age, you want to play and to play
again and show how good you are. What I like, he is not fazed by
the occasion, he is not inhibited and just plays free. That is what
is fantastic about him."
Wenger does not believe the FA Cup needs an overhaul and is
against scrapping replays, despite Arsenal having a hectic
schedule.
"There is an historic love story between people and the FA Cup
and people are scared every time that this history goes out of the
game," he said. "I don't believe (it will) because I believe that
everybody likes to go to Wembley and the final of the FA Cup."
On replays, he added: "They sometimes give you a chance to get
yourself out of a tricky game. Against Leeds, we had to go to Leeds
and we still qualified. It is fair financially for the smaller
clubs to get something."
