LONDON - Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira has criticised the decision to stage both this season's FA Cup semi-finals at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium saying the final itself could suffer from an absence of "passion" because of the decision to play all three games at the same venue.
Arsenal play Blackburn in the first FA Cup semi-final a week on Saturday, with holders Manchester United taking on Newcastle the following day ahead of the opening of the new Wembley Stadium in 2006 when all three corresponding matches will take place at the north London venue.
"The semi-final this year is in Cardiff and I believe that when you play both the semi and the final in Cardiff, you lose a bit of the passion," Vieira said.
"It makes the final not so special, so really I'm not in favour of it. The big pitch itself may suit our style but I think it's a shame when you play both games there."
The France midfielder added: "The FA Cup has been a good competition for us through the years. We love the FA Cup and I know the fans do too.
"We are really hoping we can get to the final again because you always remember those days."
Arsenal have won the FA Cup nine times in their history, most recently in 1998, 2002 and 2003. They were also losing semi-finalists in 1999 and 2004.
Indeed, the only time the north London club have failed to reach the semi-finals since 1997 was in 2000, when they went out on penalties to Leicester in the fourth round.
This season, Arsenal had a tough quarter-final draw, away to Bolton, but still came through 1-0 thanks to Freddie Ljungberg's third minute goal.
"The key to the match at Bolton was that we were ready from the very start. We were really up for it, we wanted to dig deep and show our strength," Vieira said.
"There is still a lot for us to play for this season and as well as hoping to win the FA Cup, we're also aiming to finish as high as we can in the league.
"We have done well in the last few games, and now we have to keep the momentum going," the 28-year-old explained.
"We don't have anything in our mind apart from trying to win the next game, whoever it is against."
04/07/2005 17:46 GMT