Arsene Wenger has to make some serious considerations ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League game against Bayern Munich at the Emirates next. The Frenchman was soundly citicized for playing David Ospina ahead of Petr Cech in the game against Olympiakos, and then the second-choice keeper made a schoolboy error which led us to lose to Olympiakos.
Now it is obvious that Wenger persuaded Ospina to stay in the summer with the promise that he would be the regular cup keeper, which included the Champions League. After the blunder, Wenger got very annoyed with his continual questioning over why he hadn’t played the far more experienced Petr Cech in such a must-win game. Wenger was still angry last week when he said: “To kill a player like Ospina, he has been voted the best goalkeeper of the Copa America, he is on the Ballon d’Or list, he was by far the best goalkeeper of the Premier League in the second part of the season last year; I find that just sensationalism, it is not analysis of football.”
Wenger may think it is simply the Press making a scapegoat out of Ospina, and Wenger as well because he has bought one of the best most experienced keepers in the Premier League, and then left him on the bench! So what will Wenger do next week?
There are obviously mutterings that he will re-instate Cech for the Bayern Munich game, but if he DOES, and he goes back on the surmised deal with Ospina, then where will that leave the Colombian star? There are already rumours that he is becoming frustrated and looking to go out on loan in January as he will be too unhappy if he just plays in the League Cup and the FA Cup.
As Wenger keeps pointing out, and all our fans know, Ospina was absolutely brilliant in our winning run last season, and it is extremely harsh on him to be dropped in favour of Cech anyway. But now Le Prof must make a massive decision on whether to stick with Ospina against Munich, or should he reinstate Cech against one of the best teams in the world?
It’s a difficult one, isn’t it? Here is one possible solution that perhaps no-one else has thought about. What about if Ospina plays against Watford and then he won’t be so annoyed if Cech plays in midweek?