We are now entering the most gruelling part of the season with Arsenal playing a game every three days, starting tonight against BATE, so surely Wenger will have little choice but to use every single player in the squad or risk injuries and fatigue. The good news is that all our rivals had to play Champions League matches this week which will weaken them for the tests ahead, and it was nice to find out that Manchester City are not invincible after all!
Thanks to Wenger’s rotation policy, Arsenal players should be stronger and fresher, and we have hardly any injuries to contend with for a change. Le Prof was asked if he thinks we can take advantage of our freshness in the coming fortnight. “I hope so.” he replied. “I think we missed an opportunity on Saturday to take advantage of that, because we were physically quite strong in the game. But we are in a position where we have to take the month of December in a very serious way, be efficient and hopefully we can benefit from that.”
We cannot take any of these games lightly after tonight’s game against BATE, and I am sure that there will need to be changes by the time we facr Newcastle at home in one of our easier games, but until then I expect Wenger to play with his strongest side available as we fight to get back into the Top Four. So here is our games in the next 15 days, all very evenly spaced….
Thursday 7th December EUROPA LEAGUE Arsenal v BATE Borisov
Sunday 10th December PREMIER LEAGUE Southampton v Arsenal
Wednesday 13th December PREMIER LEAGUE West Ham v Arsenal
Saturday 16th December PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal v Newcastle United
Tuesday 19th December EFL CUP QUARTER-FINAL Arsenal v West Ham United
Friday 22nd December PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal v Liverpool
Surely this is the time when our fitness and rotation policy can stand us in good stead. Could we win all these games?
Sam P