We are all expecting Arsene Wenger to make quite a few changes to the Arsenal starting line-up for the FA cup semi-final against Reading at Wembley this evening. Even though it is a crucial game for the Gunners and our hopes of lifting the famous old trophy for the second year in a row, the Frenchman will still field some of our lesser used stars.
He has already declared that our Poland international keeper Wojciech Szczesny will start in goal, as he has done in all the FA cup games so far since losing his Premier League place to David Ospina. So who else will Wenger drop from the team, and which players are so crucial that the boss simply cannot drop them?
I expect Giroud to get a rest and Welbeck to replace him at centre forward, as the Frenchman could do with a rest and the England striker could do with the game time, especially after doing so well against his former club in the last round.
I also expect some of the players recently back from injury to get a start, with Diaby, Wilshere and Debuchy all possibles. We have the option of Gibbs, Flamini, Rosicky, Walcott, Chambers and Gabriel as well but obviously Wenger is not going to completely change the team, even against lower league opposition.
With the upcoming Premier League games in mind, however, I reckon that Alexis, Ramsey, Cazorla and Monreal could be rested, with Walcott, Wilshere, Rosicky and Gibbs coming in. But I think that Coquelin and Ozil are just too important and will keep their places. What do you guys think?
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Wenger realises d importance of dis match and so I don’t think he will make more den 3-4 changes in d team. 1 confirmed change is szcesny for ospina. Other change cud b Gibbs for monreal but I wud rather play monreal. It will b interesting to see whether debuchy gets a chance or not. Other den dat I hope coquelin santi Ramsey Alexis ozil to all start and d only change being welbeck for giroud. Walcott has a chance to start but wid other players in top form and d match being d semi final I m not very sure. One surprise cud also b starting welbeck on d wing and giroud upfront. Dat wud mean dropping Ramsey to d bench. Lets just wait and see!!
This is not a match in which we can afford to make many changes. Sanchez definitely needs a rest we want him fully fit and firing for chelsea’s match. Welbeckcould do with some game time and should replace giroud.
I like your avatar picture, would look good on Nicklas Bendtners knob… ie his head.. the one that hats go on, phew.
I expect Wenger to put a strong side on the pitch.
With an 8 day layoff after the match there is no reason to replace many starters and risk losing out on the only trophy chance remaining this season.
Agreed, was thinking the same. A whole week off should do just fine.. i was also thinking this is a chance to try some tactics out in preparation of che game. Reading will no doubt try defending for dear life which we could also expect of che especially if they go a goal up, and we have to consider if we change too many or even one or two jigsaw pieces will it break our momentum or team chemistry in any way.
Would have liked Ospina.. one major error could kill our hopes, but at the same time he was in goal for the trafford game and didnt kok up with his hijinks… not as confident looking as Ospina but should do just fine.
Sanchez like the author says could maybe do with week off, next week i think hed be prepared either way.. 110%.
Giroud i think should start, hes our best striker so should play… missed chances can ultimately lead to missed winners medals/finals.
Gibbs is itching to impress, i would feel confident about Gibbs starting and having a decent game.
CBs… i would like us to use the CB pairing who will play against che.
Midfield… Rosicky and Welbeck are the two i would most consider for starting birth, would be happiest in going – Coq Cazorla Rambo Ozil Alexis – but not sure which one plays wide so Welbeck coming in may give extra balance and for Rosicky.. Cazorla or Rambo would be suitable.
This isn’t FIFA 15 isn’t it? I will play second squad to give minutes play, but in the real world Arsene won’t put unnecessary risk to our biggest cup opportunity. Schezny might be the only different member to the winning team. With 8 days recovery, we should start the game at full throttle. COYG!!!!
sometimes i wonder how much rest is enough for these millionaire players?
they already had 1 week of rest….
if they are playing a game on the weekend and another in midweek then its fair to say the player is or maybe suffering from burn out…
Wlbeck should start instead of giroud just to let him know that there is someone right behind him and to keep him out giroud needs to be at his best every game.
Wenger will probably make 3-4 changes. Szczesny will surely return in goal. Bellerin will be dropped and either debuchy or chambers will be in because of the aerial threat that reading will pose.
Ramsey will start and either sanchez or cazorla might be dropped
So my lineup wud be
Szczesny
Debuchy Mert Koscielny Nacho
Coquelin
RAMSey Ozil Sanchy
danny
oh i missed out santi
we have 24 strong squad.so field
Schezny
dibuchy chambers gabriel gibbs
diaby wilshere
walckot rosicky sanchez
welbeck
Koscielny,
Coquelin,
Alexis,
Ozil,
Giroud
Good morning Bob, and how are you? I think Mohawk has a point as for saying, the Gunners will have 8 days to rest before hosting Chelsea after they have played this FA Cup semi-final game. Would 16 days be too much for the top Gunners to rest before playing against the Blues? I think it will be better for the Gunners to have as much physical rest as possible before they play that could be our all important pulsating epic game against Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium. That game will have an all important good result for us if Man Utd did not chicken out of it today, at Stanford Bridge as LvG has already advanced an injury crisis excuses ahead of that important for us game. I believe the Royals of Reading FC aren’t having the capacity to hurt the Gunners and will not even hurt the Gunners 2nd starting team of Arsenal FC, at Wembley Stadium today’s evening when they dare to play against the Gunners. I believe the boss will not forget the App Game Data Plan Unlocking Key, which he will use after constituting the Gunners starts in the mode of: UPSET CAUSING NULLIFING GUNNERS STARTS to unlock Steve Clarke’s UPSET CAUSING APP DATA GAME PLAN at Wembley Stadium today. My resuffled Gunners starts for our Wembley FA Cup semi-final game against the Royals of Reading FC are: Szczesny…DebuchyRhino’De-AbreuGibbs…CoquelinFlamini…SanchezOzilRamsey…Welbeck. My own bench are: OspinaWalcottMonrealBellerinCazorlaWilshereGiroud.
sczeny, debuchy, Gibbs, rosisky, walcot, should be the only changes to d starting line-up, the rest should basically keep their place! we myt get to see a wilshere in the squad too! welbeck up front for Ollie to give room for theo out wide!
morning folks, its matchday and cant wait for kickoff. I expect wenger to make few changes like
Ospina>Scez
Bellerin>Debuxhy
Kos>Gabriel
Monreal>Gibbs
Cazorla>Wilshere
Giroud>Welbeck.
I aint the boss, he knows best though, We can only hope whoever plays keeps the fire burning and do a good job.
and oh i dont know if it were just my imagination or thoughts before going to bed,but i actually had a dream of our match against Chelsea, of cus i wouldnt claim to see the full 90 mins but the scenes i saw gives an impression it wasnt an easy match but we won 3-2 with Alexis scoring the winner.
Am just a fan,Am just a guy,Am just a gooner
COYG!!
Szczesny, Per, Koscielny ,Alexis ,Ozil ,Coquelin ,Ramsey will certainly start..
Lineup
Szczesny
Debuchy-Per-Kosc-Monreal
Coq-Ramsey
Walcott-Ozi-Alexis
Welbeck
Too many changes to a winning team might just cause unbalance….let’s forget about giving fringe players a run-out…this is the semis for christ sake…..at most 3 changes…rest Ospina, Monreal and Ozil…..bring in Wojiech, gibbs and Welbeck…such that the line-up goes thus
Wojiech
Bellerin Per Kos Gibbs
Coquelin Ramsey
Cazorla
Welbeck Giroud Sanchez
there won,t be to may changes 2 max and that includes the gk and the other could be nacho/gibbs
As far as I’m concerned, here’s the team I play with:
Szczesny
Debuchy Gabriel Koscielny Monreal
Coquelin Ramsey
Rosicky
Welbeck Walcott Sanchez
On the bench: Ospina, Gibbs, Bellerin, Diaby, Ozil, Cazorla, Giroud
Szczesny is starting, that’s already been announced so there is no debating that. I’ve gone with Debuchy and Welbeck on the right side for a couple of reason. First, Debuchy is better in the air than Bellerin, as well as he is physically stronger on the ground. Second, I’ve gone with Welbeck over Walcott on the wing due to the defensive cover that Welbeck adds.
I’ve gone with Gabriel and Koscielny in the middle for 2 reasons as well. Gabriel needs playing time, and Per needs a rest. As much as I know Per would love to play in the match, he deserves the day off given how many minutes he has already logged for us this season.
I’ve gone for Monreal over Gibbs on the left for many of the same reasons as I like Debuchy over Bellerin on the right. Reading won’t beat us by playing better technical football, they’ll beat us by using their size to convert from set plays. In this regard, Monreal is much better in the air than Gibbs, as was evident from his deputizing (fairly well) as CB for a few matches earlier this season. Whichever one starts, Sanchez is playing in front of them. I don’t think anybody questions that.
In the middle of the park, I’ve gone with Coquelin, Ramsey and Rosicky as the triangle. Both Ozil and Cazorla deserve a rest, and Rosicky deserves a start! With that trio, as well as Welbeck and Sanchez on the wings, you’ve got the hardest working midfield 5 in the world. While Rosicky will inevitably need to be replaced around the 60th minute, he will drive our play forward just as he has so many times in the past. Come the 65th minute, we will be looking to mix things up anyways with the likes of Ozil, Cazorla and Diaby (who has looked fantastic in his recent U21 matches) to mix things up depending on the situation. As much as I would love to see Diaby and Ramsey anchor the midfield with Coquelin getting a much deserved rest, Diaby playing 60 minutes for the U21s and playing 60 minutes in and FA cup semi-final are 2 completely different tasks.
Lastly, I’ve got Walcott up top with Giroud on the bench. While Giroud has been on fantastic form lately, he needs a rest occasionally, and what better game to rest him than against Reading? As is evident from 2 seasons ago, Walcott has the pace and technical ability to beat Reading. Walcott had been asking for more minutes as the central striker, so this should help with contract negotiations, as well as we don’t really give up anything since Sanchez, Walcott and Welbeck are all going to end up switching positions throughout the match anyways.
Some may call this a defensive lineup as we’ve got Debuchy and Monreal instead of Bellerin and Gibbs, as well as I have Welbeck on the wing instead of Walcott, however that’s what’s necessary to win this game. There is no reason why a front 5 of Ramsey, Rosicky, Welbeck, Sanchez and Walcott should not put 2 or 3 past this Reading team. In all honesty, that 5 would make most teams in the world a bit worried, if for nothing more than the speed and energy that they bring. Where my biggest concern lies is with keeping Reading from scoring on whatever set plays they may or may not get.
With this 11, I see no reason why we can’t bring on Diaby (Coquelin), Gibbs (Sanchez) and Cazorla (Rosicky) for the last 20-30 minutes of the match to defend a comfortable 3-0 lead.
If I remember clearly, Le Coq is just one yellow card away from a suspension; I wouldn’t want him missing in our match day squad against Chelsea. I would play Flamini in his place.., safety 1st.