Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has claimed that it is impossible to play against Everton this weekend after the midweek encounter with Red Star Belgrade.
The Gunners battled to a hard-earned 1-0 win in Serbia on Thursday night, and must play again this coming Sunday and Tuesday respectively.
Arsenal did field a much-changed side from the previous weekend, and will be able to make wholesale changes to the starting XI come the trip to Goodison Park without much hassle, and the French boss has revealed that it would be ‘impossible’ to play again after the Europa League match-up.
“It is impossible to come off that intensity (against Red Star) and then play against Everton,” Wenger said when asked if wholesale changes could be expected at Goodison Park.
“Of course, I left 10 or 11 players at home and I decided to rotate at the start of the season.
“It is important to see that these players get stronger and stronger in every game. We play on Tuesday again, at home, so we have to have a global plan. We have to.”
Arsenal have put one foot into the knock-out stages of the Europa League with their win on Thursday, and they have been able to comfortably do so without many first-team players, with many fringe players having enjoyed run-outs so far.
Wenger has continued to use the Thursday encounters to allow his inexperienced players to gain valuable experience, as well as helping Jack Wilshere to build up his match strength having returned from injuries.
With matches to come on Tuesday as well as Sunday, it would be crazy to expect the starting XI to remain the same after such a tough match, and you can’t complain about Wenger’s use of the squad, especially with our 100% record in the Europa thus far.
Should any of our players from Thursday be starting at Everton on Sunday?
Pat J