Even though Arsene Wenger admitted that the Arsenal squad was a bit too big and did a lot of his transfer work this summer on thinning it down rather than spending money and buying some big name players like the fans were hoping for, we still have a strong squad because a club like ours needs one.
Despite missing out on the Champions League for the first time in 20 years, the boss and the players still have European games to cope with in midweek but Wenger had suggested that he would not be taking the group games too seriously as our focus would have to be mainly on the Premier League.
The Frenchman may already have changed his tune, though, and has declared that he will be picking a strong Arsenal side for our first group game at home to the German Bundesliga outfit Cologne this Thursday, reports the Arsenal website.
He said, “It will be a Premier League team. Some players will come in of course, because many players played twice for the national team, and then again today. So two or three will not be in the squad, but most of them will play.”
I must say that I am a bit surprised to hear the boss say this, especially as we face an early Sunday kick off away to Chelsea on Sunday. Does this mean that Wenger is happy to play his best players in quick succession at this early stage of the season without fear of fatigue or injury? Does he think he has enough options to chop and change without dropping in quality?
What do you guys think of him playing a strong Arsenal team against Cologne with Chelsea coming less than three days later?
Bob.