Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes the shift in focus to Saturday’s FA Cup semifinal against Wigan is just what his side needs following their 3-0 defeat at Everton on Sunday.
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Wenger accepts that Roberto Martinez’s men comprehensively outplayed his team, as they recorded a win that gives them a great chance of securing a top-four finish ahead of the Gunners.
However, the Frenchman feels the clash against the Latics on Saturday represents the perfect opportunity for Arsenal to bounce back and put their recent Premier League struggles behind them.
“To play in a different competition will help us to find confidence back and focus on our next game,” Wenger told the club’s official website. “Once you are in the semifinal you want to go through to the final.
“We have to acknowledge that we must go back to basics and come in much stronger in the challenges, much stronger in the way we win the ball back, before we start winning games.
“We have been giving easy goals away. For a long period of the season, we were strong defensively and what we did [at Everton] defensively was poor.
“At the moment I feel it is important to focus on the quality of our game before we dream of where we finish [in the league]. We have to come back to much better quality than we produced at Everton.”
Wenger went on to suggest that the only good piece of news to emerge from his side’s trip to Goodison Park was the return of midfielder Aaron Ramsey, after three months on the sidelines with a thigh injury.
“It is one of the positives and let’s hope he will get stronger and stronger, week by week,” he added.