Arsenal aim to shed failure tag, can Hull stop their victory bus?

Mourinho jibe still rankles at the Emirates, where open-top bus is on standby ahead of FA Cup

Arsenal players Laurent Koscielny with Olivier Giroud
(Image credit: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

THREE months after Jose Mourinho branded Arsene Wenger a "specialist in failure", it's clear the remark still rankles within the Emirates Stadium. Speaking on the eve of the FA Cup Final against Hull at Wembley, Mikel Arteta dismissed the Chelsea's manager jibe. "If you analyse everything he [Wenger] has done for the club, then if he is a failure I have a different opinion," retorted the Spanish midfielder, when asked about Mourinhi's insult. "I don't like it when someone criticises my team-mates, the staff, the manager, the club, because I see what he does every day to look after this club."

Nonetheless the fact remains that Arsenal last won a trophy nine years ago, the 2005 FA Cup Final, and no one at the club is in any doubt as to the importance of victory against Hull. "With the history we have over the last nine years without any trophies at all, obviously it could be a great turning point," said Arteta. "I can't sense any fear. What I sense is a big determination."

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