£800m Wembley leaves Arsene Wenger unimpressed

The Arsenal boss takes his side to the £800million stadium for the first time tomorrow to face Chelsea, having only previously visited as a spectator.

He said: "I was not too impressed by the new Wembley. I was only there was as a spectator at the first Cup final in 2006 between Chelsea and Man United.

"Maybe I will have a completely different impression this time as I was only a spectator — I was not behind the scenes in the stadium or on the pitch.

"As a boy, we always used to play on bad grounds and everyone's dream was to play on the marvellous pitch at Wembley. When I heard they had problems with the grass that was a big disappointment because you always felt you wanted to play at Wembley as there was something special there. If that is not there any more then it is a little bit disappointing.

"I expect a good pitch but the noises I get is that it is not as convincing as the old one. The old pitch was really something special."

The Arsenal boss also echoed sentiments from Everton manager David Moyes that the two showpiece games should not be played at Wembley.

Moyes's team take on United in the second semi-final on Sunday.

Wenger said: "Playing the semi-final at Wembley takes something away from the final. But I understand they have to make some money after building a new stadium, especially in the current recession."

Wenger will be heartened to hear that Chelsea's players are starting to feel the strain ahead of the semi-final. Manager Guus Hiddink today admitted that his team's efforts in their 4-4 draw against Liverpool in the Champions League could affect them.

Chelsea have had an extra day to prepare — Arsenal beat Villarreal on Wednesday — for Wembley, but Hiddink is fearful of the impact the Liverpool game had on his players.

The Dutchman said: "Tuesday cost us a lot of energy. It was a scenario that in football was very difficult to predict. It an absolutely fantastic match which was watched all over the world, and enjoyed very much with all the errors on both sides.

"But it cost a lot of energy, both physically and mentally, to both teams."

Captain John Terry is available again after missing the Liverpool game through suspension, but playmaker Deco will miss the semi-final after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring problem.