Opinion – Arteta should rotate his team against Olympiacos

Arteta is spoilt for choice of players to use against Olympiacos. by Lagos Gooner

Hello there! It is almost time for another game for Arsenal in Europe. We are so motivated and raring to go; and the fans can’t wait to support the team right from the first blast of the whistle, to the last kick of the game. Meanwhile, with the team starting to play well and almost all the players improving on their form, Arteta may be faced with a few selection problems. In fairness, this is the type of problem the manager will always wish to be faced with, but then how does he go about solving this type of problem?

When teams buy players, they buy them to either play them as first team players or reserve players. Not every footballer will play in the first eleven because football clubs are involved in lots of competitions and they need a lot of fit players to help them prosecute these games. At Arsenal, we have a large pool of players to choose from and this should rather be an advantage and not a problem, as it may be in some cases.

It is safe to say that some players will always feature in Arteta’s team in the Premiership. Players like Bernd Leno, Pierre Aubameyang, Bukayo Saka, David Luiz and Granit Xhaka will always play in the Premiership unless they are injured. When not injured, these players form the bulk of the team, together with some other players. However in Europe, we still can’t categorically mention certain players as sure starters. Apart from Martinez our backup goalie, can we mention any other player as a sure starter? No, we can’t.

Now, how would I suggest Arteta handles this? If I were Arteta, I would use players who just got back from injuries and who have been training with the team for a while now. Apart from these players, I would also consider players who have not really picked up form yet.

So, these are the players I would use against the Greek opposition… I would use Martinez as the goalkeeper, I would use Maitland Niles as right back, I would use both Sokratis and Mari, if fit. But if Mari is not fit, then Mustafi should partner him. At left back, I would use Kolasinac. In Midfield, I would use a three man midfield of Torreira, Guendouzi and Ceballos. In attack, I would use Martinelli, Lacazette and Pepe.

My team: Martinez, Niles, Sokratis, Mari/Mustafi, Kolasinac, Torreira, Guendouzi, Ceballos, Martinelli, Lacazette and Pepe in a 4-4-3 formation.

What do you guys think about this team?

Sylvester Kwentua