Assuming that Arsene Wenger actually knows what his best Arsenal starting line up is, or at least that he will know after the Barclays Asia trophy and the Emirates cup competitions in pre-season, do you think the Frenchman will try to stick with those 11 players as much as possible?
There is certainly something to be said for the same players getting used to each other and the team tactics, just like Jose Mourinho was able to do with his fully fir Chelsea squad last season. But that is not the be all and end all of the situation.
We have seen key members of the Gunners team, like Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla, played in every game by the boss and then they have looked jaded after a while. There is also the risk of injury and at Arsenal we have better reason than any other club to fear that.
I suppose that Wenger could try to stick with the same team as much as possible in the Premier League, as that is the number one priority for next season. Or we could use the strong squad and rotate, taking the risk that a slightly weakened Arsenal team will still be more than a match for our opponents.
However the boss wants to play it, he will take the blame if it goes wrong, so I do not envy Wenger his decisions. How do you think we should approach the four competitions this year?
It should depend on the opposition which players start,against a Stoke City a player with pace like Walcott should start ahead of Giroud because defenders like Shawcross deal easily with crosses but lack pace when they are turned facing their own goal
Yes, but physically weak players like walcott will get crushed against stoke whereas strong players like giroud can deal with their physicality
I agree if a pass comes into to Theo and he doesn’t have the opportunity to run onto a ball with space some CB will run through his backside and it won’t be pretty.
This will occur when we are playing the passing game we love to play when teams are very condensed. If we played more direct with long balls at first touch trying to reach Theo then it would be more beneficial for someone like him but with bigger CB’s like Kompany and Shawcross the minute you try to maneuver in a tight space they will go through you to get the ball.
`Rotation` is an ambiguous word. It`s hard to adopt a policy of `rotation` there are so many factors on a weekly basis that are often beyond a managers control but it is necessary to overcome fatigue. `Rotation` as an open policy is fine without upsetting the the basic fabric of an established eleven. Outside of injuries there is playing time to consider or players will become unsettled. It`s risky in a competition so professional as the EPL where there`s usually on one goal difference. Best of luck Arsene!
Rotation. We don’t have a clear best 11. It depends on form. If the the team is healthy it is a very deep squad.
OT: What is Wenger planning? I would love him to now follow the Cech signing with another.
I see SCHWEINSTEIGER is due to go to MU, does this maybe mean we’ve secured Schneiderlin?
I’ll be watching to see if Saints sign a DM player anytime soon.
Also are we waiting for other signings to complete?
Benzema from Real? Vidal? Higuain? Carvalho?
Wenger please, please dont let this window close having not signed a striker and DM player!
A Stoke City or Everton side should not beat a Gunners side at the Barclays Asia Cup. Because the game will not be played at the Britannia nor at the Goodison park where the Gunners often fall, moreso at the Britannia. Fitness and rotation are vital necessities to balance the team. We have seen a balanced Gunners team went on unbeaten for a spell last season. But only to fall at home to a low key Swanseas XI due to fatigue to some Gunners who should have been rested. We saw the Gunners also dropped 2 valuable points at home to a struggling Sunderland team due to the same reason of fatigue to some Gunners that were needing to rest. And we thus lost out on the 2nd spot finish in the table. But in contrast to fatigue, we saw a fresh Walcott put 3 past a West Brom team. This is the kind of rotation the Boss should do next season on the onset of a Gunner looking fatigued to avoid dropping vital points and a Gunner likely getting injured. The Boss, am sure knows about these things even more than I do. The reason why I think he hasn’t done much rotations last season was, there aren’t adequate quality Gunners in our first team and couple with some Gunners getting injured which can’t guarantee us success on the field of play if the Gunners in question were played. Hence, the Boss was skeptical to do rotations more especially as the Gunners failed to sine at home as they lost to Southampton in the Capital One Cup. I do understand the problem. Not until a desiring to centrally play Walcott made the Boss to re-take a gamble on doing rotation as he played Walcott centrally in our home game to WBA and it handsomely paid off. Would the Boss take encouragement from this success to occasionally do some Gunners rotation next season. A guaranteed successful rotation next season is the addition of some top quality players to the team by the Boss. 2 top quality additions to our team for next season campaign will be most enhancing. IMO, a top quality LB & RW are unavoidable at Arsenal next season for raising the bar of performance in those departments that I see will be added key to the Gunners titles success next season.
Rotation comes in place when the same starting 11 players have been playing for too long and face the risk of getting injured or losing form during key stages of the season. In other words, we can not adopt the rotation policy from the first few weeks of the season because it is important too reach the peak form as a team as soon as possible and that cant be done with too frequent changes in the starting 11. Last season Chelsea played every game with almost the same team week in week out and thats how they flourished on their counterattacking system.