Arsenal’s pursuit of this season’s FA Cup may not quite be tinged with the sense of urgency that surrounded the 2014 final but Aaron Ramsey says that the squad’s hunger to succeed has intensified in the past year.
Ramsey scored the extra-time winner against Hull City that ended his team’s nine-year wait for a major trophy and, even if a certain amount of pressure has consequently been lifted, the Welsh midfielder believes that Saturday’s meeting with Aston Villa can be the catalyst for more silverware.
“Even though we’ve been in that situation and we won it last year, it’s so important to have that hunger and determination to go out and prove that you’re worthy winners,” he said.
“It’s not going to be an easy game – we’re going to have to be aware of that – but all the lads are even more hungry this time around. We want that feeling that we had last year and want to go on and win more things.”
That feeling was made possible by the 109th-minute goal that completed Arsenal’s comeback from 2-0 down. Ramsey describes the moment as a dream but would not complain if matters were settled less dramatically this time.
“It’s definitely up there, to score a winner in the FA Cup final,” he said. “It’s everybody’s dream and I managed to live it. To finally win something after all those years and the pressure that has been put on this club, it was such a nice feeling of relief.
“We never do it easily. I’m sure some of the fans would like it done a bit more easily. We’ve experienced what it’s like now, going a few goals behind early in the game, but we still believed in our ability to get through it. Hopefully we won’t have to put so many people through that this time.”
Retaining the trophy would, on top of a third-placed finish in the league, constitute progress and Ramsey highlights the team’s improved approach to higher-profile games this season.
“In the past we’ve been a bit too naive, maybe tried to play the way that we like a bit too much and left ourselves a bit too open at times,” he said.
“We’ve been a lot more solid this year, we haven’t given as much space to play and we’ve been quite compact. We’ve managed to take our chances at the other end and that’s a step forward. The only thing I think we need to do now is get that consistency throughout the season to challenge for the Premier League.”
