I guess it is no big surprise that Unai Emery will be rotating his Arsenal players for the League Cup quarter-final against Tottenham tomorrow, as we really must concentrate all our efforts on keeping our top players fit for the race for the Top Four after dropping behind on Sunday.
He said in his pre-match conference yesterday: “Our first idea is that we play with the best players that we can use tomorrow in this derby. The opposition is very big and it’s demanding a big performance from us tomorrow. We can use some young players because we think with a big performance, they can help us win tomorrow.”
It will help Emery to know that Tottenham will also be rotating their team, and for the same reason, but it is still a North London Derby and also a chance to try and get past the semi-final and book a trip to Wembley, which always cheers up the fans (except for last season of course!). Our embarrassing defeat to Man City was one of the low points of last season and from that day on the fans stopped turning up at the Emirates and ultimately ended with Arsene Wenger’s departure.
But, as I said earlier, I believe that Unai Emery will be very keen to win this competition and will put out the strongest side he can, while still keeping an eye out for next weekend’s match against Burnley. In fact I am quietly confident.
What do you think?
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I really care less about the Carabao Cup. Let the youths play and have some NLD fun.
Top 4 is our priority. And and we need to be cautious with the way we play some players to avoid more injuries. Torreira should be rested.
No chance of finishing in top 4 only chance of champions league football is to win Europe cup but still don’t think we are good enough to do that either. Emery needs a at least 3 transfer windows to get his own team together then he has to make it work and can have no excuses if he dosnt if he fails will have to join mourinho on the dole que!!
Dan, who do you think will be able to do better than Emery with the transfer budget Kroenke is likely to provide under the “self funding model”?
Furthermore who is likely to want to coach/manage Arsenal should Emery fail? Arsenal is not Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs worldwide, who can afford to pay out Mourinho and pay the highest wages to attract a replacement.
Imagine what confidence it’ll give us if we beat them again, and we need to bounce back from the St. Mary’s horror show asap. This is Spurs, so we have to go full strength! It’s a must win!
Hard. Is the carabao a priority? Beating Spurs is always a priority, but i don’t know. We are not strong enough to compete in so many cups, Europa, Carabao, FA and PL. Europa and PL that’s the two main priorities this season, to get back into the Champions League. But Beating spurs again, that would be great, and we do not need 2 back-to-back losses either, but i don’t know… i would say rest as many of our first team players and let us see just how good our younger players are, what ever the result will be.
Any news about Emile Rowe? I hope he is fit to play tonight.
Heard somewhere he’s out for a month? Don’t know if it’s credible information.
We should try to sign Willi Orban, the central defender and captain of Leipzig. He’s quick, great in the air, tough tackling and at his prime age. I would imagine him being in our price range and Leipzig has more expensive, upcoming CBs already in their roster (Upamecona, Konate).
For years, this Hungarian international has performed for Leipzig, and this season boasts 2.4 tackles and 1.6 interceptions per match (in Bundesliga and Europa League). He also averages 5 aerial duels won per match, which is more than anyone in our team and 2nd best in Bundesliga.
We really lack a CB who INTERCEPTS and has aerial presence. I remember Kosc at his prime lead thge interception chart in the whole league.
What would fans prefer? The EFL cup or a return Champions League football? We’re stretched very thin at the moment and cannot afford any more injuries to our top players. Personally, the EFL Cup has no more meaning that the Community Shield. Our limited resources should be deployed fighting for a more significant prize like the Europa League trophy and a Champions League spot.
agree 100%
Either with our strongest 11 or with some rotation, the result can go either way. So, I’ll suggest some players should be rested and some youngsters should be tested. Then we’re good to go.
losing to man city was embareasing??who stopped city last season,?they were on fire,this team also already lost to city this season,.arsenal are no where near city level by now.losing to them is not embarrasing
It’s the manner in which we lost. We were awful.
There’s no shame in losing to a better side, but if you offer no fight and seemingly are just going through the motions then that’s embarrassing.
?
Every game is a priority and this even more so being against our homeless nomad near neighbours. I remember when we played them in this competition last and Wenger said he would play the kids. spurs (small ‘s’) subsequently fielded a second string, we put out our first team and hammered them. I appreciate we need a couple of reserves to play because of injuries but otherwise it must be our strongest possible team.
I’d like to see us play a lot of youth and reserve players.
Beating Spurs is always important, but let’s be honest. If we beat Spurs we’ll likely play either Man City or Chelsea over 2 legs. Who wants that?
Even if we then win that tie, we’ll likely still have to play whichever other side beat Burton.
I think resting our key first teamers – Torreira, Lacazette, Aubameyang, Sokratis, Leno, Monreal, Koscielny, Xhaka and maybe one of Ramsey, Mkhitaryan or Ozil is the way to go.
Play the likes of Jenkinson, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Guendouzi, Saka, Willock and Nketiah from the start.
That way if we lose we can rightly say it wasn’t the first XI and confidence won’t be further damaged. If by some unlikely scenario we win, then it’ll give the youngsters additional confidence and they can play in the semi-final as well.
Want to win
Play Lacazette up front
A trophy is a trophy and I want TROPHIES
Also hate Spuds and dont want to lose to them