With Danny Welbeck being the only notable absentee for Arsenal as they take on Aston Villa in the FA Cup final, the team selection for the big game will prove to be a very difficult task for Arsene Wenger, and perhaps the most difficult part of selecting the starting eleven will be deciding which players will comprise Arsenal’s midfield trio.
After a sparkling display against West Brom on Saturday, Jack Wilshere has also thrown his name into the hat and admitted his desire to take to the field at Wembley. Now the Englishman’s competition will include Aaron Ramsey, Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla, it is more or less a given that Mesut Ozil will start in his preferred Number 10 role behind the striker. With that being said, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey and Wilshere will compete for the two deep-lying midfield roles. So who should should get the nod for the big game?
Well, I’m sure we can all agree that Coquelin should start as our defensive midfielder. The Frenchman will be a very vital component of the side, especially considering that that our opponents will look to sit back and catch the Gunners on the break. Now I’m sure Ramsey is going to start this game, but it is unclear as to whether he will start next to ‘Le Coq’ or whether Wenger will choose to play him on the flank again.
In my opinion, he has to play in his preferred central midfield role for two reasons. Firsrly, the Welshman has a far greater influence on the game playing in the middle of the park, and second, I believe Theo Walcott should be brought in for this game. Since Villa are going to sit back and defend, we really need to make the best use of the width of the pitch and we can only do so by playing two natural wingers out wide.
With that being said, the midfield trio that I would go with is Coquelin, Ramsey and Ozil. While it will harsh on Santi and Wilshere, I believe that the aforementioned trio will be most effective for Arsenal going into the big game. But on the bright side, Santi and Wilshere, along with Oxlade-Chamberlain and Rosicky, will give Arsenal a lot of attacking options from the bench.
Anurag