However, that seemed to be the attitude of the team as well for much of Saturday's match, which helped to produce a lethargic first-half performance. The second-half was not a huge improvement but William Gallas decided he was bored and sauntered forward to break Wigan's resistance and Tomas Rosicky added the coup de grace.
Manuel Almunia - TFC - Thanks for coming - can't merit a rating as probably expended less energy than Jens did grinding his teeth on the bench.
Bacary Sagna - 7 - Solid if unspectacular, it was no surprise that his most telling contribution came after Eboue was substituted.
Kolo Toure - 6 - Strangely subdued. Untested at the back but hit far too many long balls in the second half. Left the forward surges to the captain.
William Gallas - 8 - OK I said he was a poor choice as captain, but how was I to know he would turn into BA Baracus and construct matchwinning-moves in a barn where he only had a pile of junk to work with.
Gael Clichy - 6 - Consistent in good and bad ways - his final ball is nearly always bad.
Emmanuel Eboue - 3 - Maybe it was the recurring ankle injury from last season but yet again on Saturday he jumped out of a tackle which is quite pathetic for a player who may still be called upon to play at full back. Didn't do much else besides.
Lassana Diarra - 7 - Both our back-up central midfielders are quality but it was clear that they have a long way to go to form a partnership like the one Fab and Flam have. Diarra gave the ball away a lot but to his credit nearly always won it back.
Denilson - 6 - Probably our best player in the first half but faded after half-time.
Tomas Rosicky - 6 - Presumably he was told not to leave his wing in the first half as he was reluctant to do so even though we badly needed his creativity inside. Moved to a central position and then out to the right. He at least got 90 valuable minutes under his belt and took his chance superbly.
Theo Walcott - 6 - A lively first half but was moved to allow Tomas to play inside and that didn't help his game.
Emmanuel Adebayor - 7 - The missed chances remain a source of frustration for us but imagining the frustration of Ade at the sort of idiot who refuses to give him the credit he deserves. Yes Bendtner came on and played a part in both goals but as big a factor was Wigan's fatigue. And a huge reason they tired so badly in the last 10 minutes was the immense work their defence had to do to contain Ade for the previous 80. He badly needs Robin back to shoulder the load up front but he should take great credit from his performances as a lone striker for much of the past month.
Subs:
Eduardo da Silva - 6 - Nice touches but not much else.
Nicklas Bendtner - 7 - Uses the ball intelligently as shown in his role in the goals. Must carry on the good work if he gets a chance in Seville.