Reports this evening suggest that Arsene Wenger is set to rest Petr Cech for tomorrow night’s Champions League tie against Olympiacos tomorrow night.
It’s a move that doesn’t make much sense as Cech is clearly the number 1 and this is a game that Arsenal have to win, but it seems as if the Arsenal manager is aiming to give the Colombian another game tomorrow evening.
“I need to give Ospina games,” he said, “and I think he is a top-level goalkeeper but that doesn’t mean that he will play.
“It will go game by game and there can be a different decision. I am fortunate to have two keepers of this quality.
And after two games in 4 days, and not much rest since Saturday, there will be changes elsewhere too. Aaron Ramsey is a candidate for resting but may be required if Francis Coquelin doesn’t make it in the absence of Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini.
“I am looking at him, yes,” said Wenger. “I have to see how Coquelin is. I wait for feedback from the medical people.It’s more the games we played before which could have an influence on selection.
“Some players have played two tough games, at Tottenham and Leicester, where it was a high level physically.
“The 20 fit players I have available can play in every game. I can close my eyes, just take a position, and I am confident I can play a very strong team.”
Perhaps Cech is carrying an injury of some kind, which would make the decision to pick Ospina a bit more rational. Otherwise it just seems a bit odd paying £10m for a new goalkeeper and not playing him in the most important European games.
Whoever gets the nod though, let’s hope the result is right.
Ospina is fine for Olympiacos, but Cech must play against Bayern.
Have a feeling it will be Cech, Ramsey and Monreal rested with Ospina, Ox and Gibbs coming in, hopefully we can still get the win
Resting 3 of our starting 11 and being able to bring in Ospina, Ox & Gibbs as their replacements, we’ve come a long way, not too long ago it would have been Almunia, Traore & Arshavin coming in if they weren’t already starting!
A quick look on whoscored.com reveals that Ozil has racked up 17 assists and 10 goals in all competitions during his first two years for us.
Arshavin claimed 19 assists and 20 goals in his first two years.
I’m not even bothering to compare with the stats of Ox.
While I believe that Ox has potential to reach Arjen Robben levels of skill and efficiency (withou the negative personality traits), I find your lack of respect for one of the finest players to wear our shirt frankly disturbing. 😉
Now we have Arteta..
Monreal won’t be rested as he didn’t play in the Spurs game so is fresher than the others that did. Yes we had a tough game on the weekend physically with its pace, but most of the players did not play a full match vs Spurs so should be OK.
But with Utd at the weekend, why not rest him if Gibbs is a competent replacement? Frankly I don’t see any reason not to.
The boss was spot on, Ospina really deserve playing time
Agree, some of the players need to play more because then they look not to fit for the game (Debuchy?). Season is long so its in our best interest to rest as much as possible our first team players. I don’t want them getting muscle injuries.
How wrong you were
I can see osipna between the pole line
. rest cech for man u
goalkeepers don’t need rest like outfielders though
It’s definitely a weird situation with the keepers at the moment. Last season’s number one keeper on loan at Roma, the keeper who took his place last season now relegated back to number two because we bring in a better keeper.. Wenger has definitely got a tough job keeping his keepers happy this year – I guess that’s why he’s paid the money!
Nooooo, not Almunia in goal again :/
Alumina? Some people ?
It’s a dicey situation for wenger. He wants to keep them all happy by giving them play time. But bringing ospina in such a match might also not sit well with cech. I hope they understand each other well
Just sends out the wrong message to the team for me, same with the last CL game. We spend £10m on a definite upgrade of keeper, and then “rest” him for the CL – supposedly the biggest most important cup tournament we’re in. Against Zagreb it gave off an air of arrogance, now I’m thinking Wenger maybe just doesn’t consider CL as winnable at all, so is “resting” his #1 keeper. Bearing in mind, GK is not a position you need to rotate to keep fresh. Sometimes Wenger is just too nice, it’s like he feels bad for upgrading on… Read more »
or yanno, maybeeeee it’s as Wenger said and not as you paranoid.
don’t get the fuss tbh, Ospina is the least of our problems in turn of rotation. He’s been nuffin but good for us and I’d say he is at Cech’s level until proven wrong. Yes, maybe goalies don’t need that many rests, but whatabout keeping Petr on his toes a bit? And whilst I aggree with peepz sayin Cech is the better keeper overall, Ooooooospina probably deserves a go. It’s a good game to bring him on and have fit Petr for the Mancs. I worry more bout other positions like DMs. Whoever plays anywhere on the pitch tonight should… Read more »
i fuckin eat my own words… 🙁
I rotate like this is fifa.
Good for you, son.
I never rotated Cliff on Fifa 1934.
Probably Cech carrrying an injury, and don’t want to risk him before the United game. You have to think that the difference between Ospina and Cech shouldn’t be the difference between us beating Olympiakos and not.
I think it’s quite obvious that Ospina is just the cup keeper. People look at Wenger and often see an obstinate old manager but he can be quite impressionable. He has seen other clubs have a cup keeper (including European games) when they have two good keepers. Similarly I don’t think he ever really contemplated playing Özil on the left until Germany won the WC with him on the left.
We clamor for quality and depth, yet when we finally utilize it, we cry bloody murder. Make up your damn minds gooners!
my views exactly, first time in many seasons we can really rotate without compromising on quality, i’m loving it
Ospina was hardly at fault in the dinamo game though, Cant say any of those two goals we’re keeper mistakes, But both definetely involved shoddy defending on our part. However you would think the biggest competition in club football would involve the best 11 players of each team, So yes, a strange decision to not involve Cech, Especially since Cech was vocal about wanting a new club who also played in the Champions League, But then we leave him out. Cant imagine he is okay with that decision. On the other hand we all know we cant hope to compete… Read more »
I vaguely recall some Almunia-esque walkabout taking place toward the end of the game that fortunately went unpunished, but what do I know.
I feel like arseblog hates Ospina. Ospina is a great international keeper and its a great way to keep Cech fresh in the league. Remember that Barcelona won the treble doing this with Bravo and Ter Stegten last season. Ooooooooospina!
Think he’s trying the whole Barca and Real thing of one keeper for the league and the other for the Champions league and cups.
Not worried though, Ospina is a very solid keeoer and theres not a huge disparity in class between him and Cech.
Have to say I’ve not been in awe about our new keeper since the first game… Ospina is agile and brave, though less experienced and playing him should keep Cech on his toes.
The only difference is height of the players! Cech has advantages though but Ospina will do against the opponent we have now.
I feel comfortable with Ospina in goal.
Absolute joke to rest Cech.
Please, lets use Ospina too in other games, i totally agree with Wenger too to rotate on goalkeeping, remember Ospina contributed to us to be position 3 last yr.
Ospina is more than capable to play Olympiacos at home. Absolutely no worries there as he’ll probably only get 5 shots or less on him. Bigger game on Sunday and let’s make Cech hungry for that one! Arsene bought him for the big games so maybe he is being super cautious so there would be no chance of Cech getting hurt b4 United
As much as logical reasoning suggests we go with our number 1 (Cech) for this match as it’s a must win I do think either would be a solid choice. Ospina has looked much more assured than last year and seems a different player (especially with his distribution) and is a top quality keeper. He is very quick and is well suited to this type of match that will be more open and surely not a barrage of crosses or free kicks he’d face in some PL matches where Cech clearly has an advantage.
With a big six pointer against ManUtd coming up, I would have to expect that Wenger will bring in some changes. While rotating GKs is not as essential as outfield players, I would expect we will see at least Gibbs and Ox come back into the side and probably Gabriel too. More worrying than anything else though is who to play in CM, with all 3 of Coq, Arteta and Flamini seemingly crocked. Would’ve been an opportune time to bring in a youngster like Isaac Hayden if he wasn’t out on loan.
Ospina
Bellerin
Monreal
Mertesacker
Gabriel
Coquelin
Santi
Chamberlain
Sanchez
Ozil
Walcott
May end up with a Ramsey-Santi midfield if Arteta is out and Coquelin not ready (no point rushing him and incurring a ‘setback’) Maybe Ox out wide then which means Bellerin a good option behind him. I’d think there may be a temptation to play Gibbs on other flank. Gabriel could come in for either Per or Koscielny. UP front will remain the same with Ozil, Alexis and Walcott. We need to do the business so can’t afford to take it lightly but clearly some rotation needed before the United game if poss. Maybe Campbell late on for Alexis when… Read more »
Lets Alexis try for goalkeeper. I mean, the guy can do it all 🙂