Patrick Vieira says the atmosphere surrounding the FA Cup third round weekend contributes to the tournament’s aura, as the world’s oldest cup competition gets underway.
“The atmosphere is more exciting than anything else,” Vieira said in his pre-Millwall press conference ahead of what is likely to be a hostile welcome to the Den tomorrow. “The players should be pleased going into that game, knowing that the atmosphere will be really good, knowing that it is a derby.
“We know what to expect, so we can’t be surprised on that side. There is no excuses on the atmosphere that we will face tomorrow.
“We need to perform, we know it’s going to be challenging. This is a team that will play with tempo, play aggressively, so we know we’re not going to be surprised.”
A hugely successful player in the competition – winning the trophy five times, with only Ashley Cole boasting more – Vieira knows how important the FA Cup is to English football.
“It’s the atmosphere around these cup competitions,” he explained. “The FA Cup means more in this country than [cups] in Italy or in Germany or in France. This is the respect for the competition.
“Winning the FA Cup means much more than [winning cups] in other countries around Europe. It’s a competition that I believe the fans love very much, compared to France where I believe the French Cup doesn’t mean as much for the fans.
“It’s a tradition in this country I believe.”
Vieira has spoken with his squad about the need to progress, with memories of his victories in the competition still special.
“You always remember the first and the last [tournament trophy],” he revealed. “The one in 1998 with Arsenal was magical.
“The last one with Manchester City meant a lot to me because that was the last one with a fantastic group of players. I have some really good memories of the FA Cup.
“I spoke to [the players] about this competition, and how well we want to do as a football club. We want to be ambitious, and as a player as well it’s important to understand that it’s a good opportunity to go to the next round.”
The manager’s focus is squarely on reaching the fourth round, but he admitted every club has their eye on potential silverware.
“Obviously there is no football club who can go into a competition and not have in the back of their mind being successful,” he said. “To do that you need to perform. The challenge for us is how we can be ready for the challenges tomorrow.
“If we are not [ready], there will be no chance to be successful in this competition. But if we go there prepared for the challenges we face to win that game, we can build up from that.
“You have teams who can choose which competitions to compete in, but we are not part of those football clubs. We have a really exciting game tomorrow – a derby – and we want to go through.
“We want to do it for our fans, because it’s a derby game that we want to win. It’s really exciting for us.”
