As it turned out Arsenal got into the next round of the FA cup without too many dramas and without having to bring the National League club Sutton United back to the Emirates stadium for a replay. The team that Arsene Wenger selected to start the game at Gander Green Lane got the job done, and even though Oxlade-Chamberlain had a good impact coming on for Elneny at halftime, Arsenal were already ahead through Lucas Perez.
I must admit, however, that I was a little worried when I saw the Arsenal team as there was no Giroud, Welbeck or Alexis Sanchez, although the Chilean striker was on the bench in case of problems. What I do not really understand is why Wenger brought him on with 20 minutes to go.
The Frenchman was asked about this after the game, with the press clearly wondering whether it was a risk worth taking with our star man on an artificial pitch, as reported on the Arsenal website, and Wenger responded by declaring that there was no risk involved.
He said, “He is a guy who has a strong body. I think on this pitch it is the guy who does not have good co-ordination, who is heavy on his feet, who is in trouble. Alexis is more a guy who has very good co-ordination, he is light on his feet. I don’t think it was a risk.”
The thing is, though, it is always a risk of sorts and when you saw the Sutton players flying into tackles it was probably more so than usual. Was it not a bit daft of the boss to risk his most important player at the end of a game that was already won?
I understand that Iwobi may have needed to go off after being involved in a heavy tackle himself, but would it not have been better to go with Gibbs? Was Wenger just keeping the forward happy with minutes on the pitch and the chance to add to his goal tally?
Bob.
Cant blame Wenger for this call.
We all know Alexis has aspirations of been a Golden Ball winner or even the Football Best Award so such games are a good opportunity for him to get more goals and improve his stats. CR7 has been known to be a small team bully but at the end of the season only his stats counts and not the opponents.
Reason? Wenger is a senile nut whose brain has decayed over the years.
I decided to stop watching Arsenal until this fool leaves once and for all.
@dom4
If you’ve made the decision to stop watching AFC. Then why don’t you decide to stop commenting about them also.
Dom4 – You need to stop obsessing about Wenger and try to learn to enjoy a good game of football for what it is. Or don’t they let you watch it on your ward?
Wenger has already explained why he played Sanchez, and we all know our star just wants to play every minute of every game. I’m glad he just restricted him to 15 minutes!
I read an article quoting the chairman of Sutton, and apparently it was for the players and fans of Sutton to see him play on their pitch. It was just a nice thing to do. The players also left their shirts behind and Walcott and the ox sign shirts for Sutton players. We also donated $50k to Sutton for some change room upgrade. We offered for them to keep all the revenue from the tickets but the FA wouldn’t allow it, so we donated money instead.
Spot on. It was just a classy move from Wenger to let Alexis play, and the fans from both teams to enjoy the moment. I’m from US, and have never been to UK to watch an Arsenal game in person. It’s at the top of my bucket list though, and you bet your rear behind if I’m going there and paying top dollar to watch the game, I want to see the best players, and not some reserves. I was very close to going to the pre-season game against NY Red Bulls few years back, but I’m glad I didn’t. Not only the game ended in a 1-0 loss for Arsenal, but I could barely recognize a few names in the squad. Rosicky… Yes, Tomas Rosicky played as a lone striker for us in that game. Embarrassing for the club, and embarrassing for the fans. I’m all up for giving players rest after major competitions, but I also refuse to spend money to watch our B-squad. Just my 2 cents.