Arsene Wenger says that Jack Wilshere will be in contention for Sunday’s trip to Brighton if he trains tomorrow.
The England international missed last night’s defeat to Manchester City with a minor ankle problem and hasn’t trained today.
“If he can practice tomorrow, then he will be in contention,” Wenger told Arsenal.com on Friday.
“He will not practice today, he will have treatment and then a test tomorrow.”
The boss opted not to make any substitutions last night – we’re not entirely sure why – so that suggests that the rest of those who started haven’t picked up any major problems.
Of course, some of the squad would be playing for a third time in a week when we head to the south coast so rotation may come into play.
“I don’t know, we will have to analyse that medically and see if I need to rest some players or not,” he said.
“I have until Sunday to make that decision, but of course we gave a lot [in the Carabao Cup final] and on Thursday night. I have to decide who I rest and who I keep going.”
MUSTAFI! Rest Mustafi..I never want to see him on the pitch again
Who will you play instead? Chambers? Holding – who hasn’t played in a while?
BFG?!
Holding, why not ? He needs game to get the form of last year back and he can’t be worse than Mustafi.
With how bad our team is right now I don’t think playing young players really is beneficial for their long term development – particularly defenders.
At detriment to our europa and CL?
You must be joking.
Even in the league, we could slip further and get caught by those behind us.
Seriously.
Yeah, I can’t even remember the last young defender that came through us that we haven’t damaged somehow.
Holding was atrocious. Chambers too. You have to clear the cobwebs out of your head. Mustafi was one of our better players yesterday. Koscielny was more atrocious. And (sadly) Mustafi is one of the better Cbacks. Chambers, Holding are all half cooked. Mavropanos god knows why we bothered to buy another young player to rest on the bench. Before you start voicing out with blinkered opinion, I suggest you watch the game again. Mustafi has come in with many vital blocks in last 7 games which conveniently the same voices who want to paint him as villian , choose to… Read more »
You write the longest posts on every article out of anyone who comes on here more than once in the same article. Half the time I can’t even read the whole post it’s such boll*cks that you type. Also stop typing like what you say is FACT, it is just your personal opinion and clearly by the amount of down votes than up votes you get it’s quite obvious the majority of people don’t agree with your personal opinion
Mustafi is far too error prone and it undermines the good work too often. He has more defensive instinct that any other defender we have but needs a lot of development. The rest of the defence isn’t strong enough and makes him look even worse.
But let’s not give Koscielny a free pass, he’s been even worse and what once made him great, and his leadership is lacking as ever
Kos is being forced to play through chronic achilies pain – which will probably take a year ir two off his career, and is literally in tears at how bad we have become. Give him a break.
I rhought coquelin was solid…
Think some what you say is good, mustafi does block well. Keep writing if you wNt all ALL voices are good. Czech Chamber mustafi holding tank Elneny Xhaka Ramsey miki ozil Pat. Rest kos hector jack , Danny for europa. Tho danny needs practise for form. Ozil good wide left for Germany. And let’s miki closer to pat up front. Ramsey good wide left. I think people harsh on elneny , he has had 100% and 97% passing stats in matches this year. The goal elneny scored against bar a the other season. If he was not North african. Was… Read more »
Considering we should rest a few players (Ramsey, Welbeck, Koscielny, etc.), how about a classic Wenger-era 4-4-2 tomorrow?
Auba Ozil (be like Bergkamp)
M-Niles Wilshere Elneny Mkhi/Iwobi/Nelson
Kolasinac Mustafi Chambers Bellerin
Cech
Two banks of four will provide a little more stability and compression in shape, but we’ll also have some players who can run (M-N and Mkhi/Iwobi/Nelson) the wide channels and give the side some width (something City do so obscenely well).
We’ve tried everything else, I think …
Honestly, why not play Chambers and Holding for the rest of the season (league games) and let them show their potential. At least we will know how many center backs we need to buy in the summer.
@Alon Shalev. Agreed. And why not coach them as well…
The Greek boy…
I’d rather rest Xhaka and for the rest of the season.
Sorry was that “arrest Mustafi?” I could see that working too!
AW has little choice but to play the strongest team possible. We need all our games now….in both the Premier and Europa league
*need to win
You should see an edit button for 15 minutes so you can change stuff like that.
OK!! I will do that next time.
@Nordin how is responding positively and gratefully to advice worthy of being down voted?
Do we even have a ‘strong’ team? Play the kids. At least they’ll give a fuck.
In addition, Wenger needs to stand up during games and yell to keep his defence organized and not out of position. A manager who really really wants to win will driven to do this. This task is within his job description and he refuses to do it. In normal jobs you get fired.
To be fair I think the yelling managers don’t make that much difference. The defensive organisation relies on communication between the players and training, setup and practice.
Have you noticed Conte, Pep, Klopp? They all stand up, direct and inspire. We need that. AW just doesn’t have a clue any more.
I agree with you re-Conte and Klopp, but Wenger has never been that type of Manager. personally I don’t have a problem with him not standing up, and I’m fine with him protecting his players and the club, I just wish the players could play for him, looks like he can’t motivate them anymore. If my boss protected me half as much as Wenger protects his players I would work the hardest. I’m a staunch Wenger supporter, not because I cannot see that he’s way past it, everybody can see that, i think Wenger himself knows it. My theory is… Read more »
Maybe giving instructions and coaching drills beforehand ,instead of leaving their footballing brain to express itself, is better than yelling during the game.
Wouldn’t you say so?
Wenger yelling from the touchlines “uh….defend better si vous plait!” Is hardly going to help. Bringing in a manager who can coach defense into them would be a better bet i think…
Frankly we got distracted and bought poorly in January.
Wasted opportunity.
Since the window, its been downhill.
We miss Alexis and the ability to beat a player or two on his own, instigate, tear the defense out of position.
We lack pace out wide (never mind a DM)
Contrast City who do not have to rely on fullbacks to push up bc they have Sane who can do the business wide.
Good January window? Think again.
I agree with Santori, this isn’t to say aubamayang isn’t world class but we should have bought a competent midfielder and winger instead. A player like Sane also inhibits the (his) opposition attack as you’re forcing winger to defend and double up. It makes it easier to control the game and pin your opposition in their half.
At this stage I’m kind of venting… soz guys
The issue is that the money in the coffers is less and less value in an asset bubble so you invest into the asset to keep the value relative to the commodity. Problem is we dithered on our money and bought players on the wrong side of their twenties. Their value won’t increase meaning that we lose value all the same even when the cost of players in on the rise. We had no choice because of our contract situation with the players and with a manager that simply doesn’t inspire anymore. The players will be sold for less while… Read more »
Let me guess…
Mahrez?
Any player that is over 27 and not performing for us needs to go. We have to look at a long term rebuild with this team. Stan isn’t going to buy players to get us back to the Champs league we need to be patient and suffer for a few more years
Literally no one at this club has had a good season. Let’s see what a new manager can do as clear the issues are above the players even if some aren’t good enough for a title challenging side right now
Strongest team possible.
That may mean Mustafi and Granit because frankly, we have no better options.
The priority has to be Thursday v Milan. Although getting individual & team confidence with a positive result on Sunday is also need psychologically. On balance though I’d definitely rest a few who started both City games.
Agreed. Bizarre that we continued with the same team for 90mins last night. At least stick on Elneny / AMN for Rambo as he’s sure to start on Sunday.
Elneny and AMN, the pair who we played when we got beat by Ostersunds?
Clever.
I do that on FIFA when I know the game is basically over and I don’t care anymore.
Wenger does this when the team have let everyone down with a poor performance. Its happened a lot of times, making them take responsibility for poor performances by basically hanging them out to dry. to be fair city are very good, but its got a lot to do with tactics. Our own didnt make things easier
Play Reid’s nelson
Play Reiss
We gave a lot? Hahaha, sure
Tactics :
Man city : possession and pressure
Pool and Spurs : High press
Manure : Not very sure but at least they can park the bus when necessary
Leicester : sit deep and counter
Arsenal : ???
Doesn’t matter who plays if no one knows what the plan is and losing possession causes absolute mayhem and panic.
Arsenal: flatter to deceive.
We have a plan. Pass the ball into the net.
Arsenal: pass it to the wings without servicing the striker whilst having a high defensive line so the opposite team can easily counter attack
Arsenal: Clueless without Santi Cazorla. Spend money on an offensive player who is on the same level as Santi and you have a team that can compete offensively at the highest level. Someone like Modric/Xavi/Kroos/Rakitic/Isco/Muller types who have a good first touch, can do turnovers and make the right decisions in transition. Xhaka is bench level and EL Neny is Reserve level. We can buy one more player like Ozyakup/Meyer for safety. Keep Cazorla if he’s back from injury. Ramsey and Wilshere can fight it our for the RCM role. Sell Welbeck, Chambers and buy two top CB’s. This is… Read more »
Elneny > Xhaka
@Auba
Depends on the opposition we are facing but let’s be honest neither are first team level. Even Jack/Ramsey are not first team quality over the course of a season.
This will be where we play like absolute gods against Brighton and thrash them five nil with beautiful passwork and a stunning 40 yard pack from Xhaka. It doesn’t make any sense and it would piss me off, but that’s just Arsenal all over this season
Normally, I would agree with you. But from the past performances, I feel like the players have almost completely lost it, I don’t think any of the players trust the manager anymore. I don’t expect an amazing performance at all. If we win, it would be nicking it 1-0….oh but wait, clean sheet my butt…..2-1.
Can you blame them? how can they trust him after the zero input he put in during the city match? most managers would have been wearing out the grass on the sideline shouting till they were blue in the face trying to buck up that team who were getting whipped. hes supposed to inspire them, to direct them, to MANAGE them.
It looks like the players have given up and Wenger knows it. Not clear where we go from here until year end with this dynamic.
Think its probably a good mix of them at a very low ebb, and of their uncertainty in Wenger too. They need to be led and every blow and mistake by Wenger undermines his authority with them. I think whatever happens we can write this season off!
I don’t think they’ve totally downed tools as with the Chelsea players actively not trying in order to get M. fired. BUT they look like they simply don’t believe in Wenger or his methods anymore. There’s no fight left which is the real sign to me they have given up.
Well put. Sad times
I don’t think it’s quite that bad, but we’re getting pretty close to the Chelsea situation. I feel awful both for the players and for Wenger, who shouldn’t have had to go out this way. But something significant needs to change. Ordinarily I’d have said it’s not the Arsenal way to ax Wenger, but if we lose at Brighton, then badly at Milan, then I think something will have to happen.
If we lose badly at Milan the season is as good as over anyway. Might as well let him see it out. Start planning with the new man in the background
The form and confidence is out of the window. This is worrisome particularly for the europa. We have conspired in January to waste effort in the wrong areas, not reinforce the right ones and we now find ourselves in the glorious position of relying on Danny Welbeck since Aubameyang is Cup tied. If we don’t get CL, Wenger leaving is the least of the worries. We need to be able to have the allure to compete and attract the right calibre of talent bearing in mind there are at least 8 clubs in Europe who can spend more than we… Read more »
what is wrong with this team cannot simply be fixed by purchasing more players. We’ve spent large amounts on players such as ozil, sanchez etc. and it really hasn’t mattered. don’t judge the players until we get a new manager with a cohesive plan for how the team plays, because right now we have no style or gameplan
We are just not as good as man city at the moment, we lose 5-1 to bayern twice, the players have still played for him since then. We just got well beaten by a well drilled and very talented man city team. I dont think many of these players dislike wenger, they are just not on the same plane as man city tactically or technically. And that hammers confidence of established players. we were better with the young teams because they had an excuse of less experience and the fact they would get better over time, now we have players… Read more »
That is very easy to explain. Brighton didnt high press us, they let us play. We can do that, we can play when other team allow us to play. But in the second we go under pressure with simple high pressing, as we go with most of the teams, we start panicking and we are not able to hold our possesion or create something.
I feel that now that out top four chances are pretty much gone, we should throw Chambers and Holding in, see what they’re made of. I know there is a risk that they will perform badly and lose all confidence they have left, but hey, these are hard times. We cannot possibly think of beginning next season with Kos (I love the guy but he’s past his peak) and Mustafi. What do you think?
Colonel mustafi is useless
People unfairly go on about Mustafi. Yes he has made mistakes but he has also come in with crucial blokes over the last 6 or 7 games many don’t care to remember. The level of critic by most fans in at best unbalanced and certain favorite flogging horses have their poor points amplified where others seem to get away scot free. Koscielny was very poor yesterday but Mustafi again bore the brunt of the criticism. And then you hear stupid comments like we should sell him when frankjly, (and sadly) he is our strongest defender at the moment at Cback.… Read more »
You do speak some sense Santori but then criticise Aubameyang in only his 3rd start which is just ridiculous. Bergkamp didn’t score till his tenth game if I remember right so stop talking bollocks yourself
At this point I think you are Mustafi Agent and you should also start a blog only tagging Blogs articles
Wenger is still at the club !!! he should be gone by now.
Wenger, could we rest Wenger please??
Put him at right back/right wing and give Bellerin a break
We need to get Marco Silva in when Arsense finally leaves. Has a very solid reputation (outside of Watford, obviously?). Young, experienced, disciplined, driven and a very sound tactical mind and understanding of the game. He could be our Pochettino.
There was some rumours in the trade end of January window that we have an eye on Max Meyer.
Similar type player to Jack and can also play in the DM role.
If Jack’s injury persists and we are recalcitrant in giving him a deal not linked to injury potential, may be the case we will go for the younger German to solve some of the midfield issues.
Another good potential is Saul at Athletico should of course we at least guarantee CL football which is an IF given recent form and Welbeck leading the line for us.
At any other club when you lose both the fans support and the support of your players then its history. At Arsenal you stay on indefinitely and continue to become increasingly inept in your decision making – you can be humiliated by big and small clubs alike, you can patronize the people who pay the tickets prices by asking for perspective when you are so dense that you fail to realize when you do bring things into perspective it actually makes the whole sorry state of affairs even worse… Arsenal are a joke. And Wenger does not give a shit… Read more »
Be careful what you wish for …- let us look at facts – . losing vs Man City …. name the teams which have not lost when City played at full strength , final of the Carabao and 3 Fa cups in 4 years , name the teams which have done that . In the last 16 of a route to CL , name another English team which has the same chance ….,how many teams can say now they are guaranteed to be in the top 6 ? Which other PL manager – current or past -has given you 21… Read more »
One season? Right then
Hello mediocre one
I think it’s a little insincere to make those who are worried about the direction of the club out to be akin to spoilt brats. It’s entirely possible to be proud of our past but dissatisfied with the present. The two positions are not mutually exclusive. I’m truly grateful for the memories Arsene has given me as fan. I’ll never attack the man and resort to name calling because I don’t think he deserves that. My question to you is at what point do we as a club say enough is enough? The response to fans wanting the manager out… Read more »
Wanting to challenge for the biggest titles is at the boards discretion essentially. Which is not to say arsene is off the hook, but its difficult to put a case forward saying he has been backed financially at the sufficient level to deliver what the fans are demanding. Yes hes bought two strikers at a total layout of 100mil basically. But that is the cost of one or two players now. Its not like hes been handed a warchest. Yes its more than we had spent before, but its still little in comparison to the current market. Hes essentially just… Read more »
Do not make the manager a scapegoat … getting rid. Of him will not make Arsenal change overnight … a team which spends the 4/5th highest in the PL on players wages will most likely be in the top 6 … as teams are made of of humans who have good and bad days at work … things have been getting out of proportion … still EL to play for over 2 legs and top 6 to guarantee … not as good as the last 20 years but we can allow one bad one … when you turn on your… Read more »
Excellently put! applause
My reflection is that yes, these are great feats. But the best football, and most successful arsene era was the years when he had the core of players that were trained by graham, with added players that were already solid defensively when they joined. Since those players left arsene hasnt bought any defensively solid midfielder from memory, and without a sid base you cannot be succesful. He can train a defender in the art of attack, but not vice versa and this has led to what we see now.
The other thing is we should not be resting players now too much. We need to keep a stable squad to engender better understanding let them work through the rut a bit. That goes particularly for the back 4. All the changes simply puts a spanner in the works. Unless its an injury or fitness concern, we are only in two competitions now, one of which is almost existential (the league) and the other crucial. And if we are going to play Welbeck, for goodness sakes bring him on but put him up top. Because that’s where he is going… Read more »
Jack and Elneny in midfield I would say. Put Ramsey on the right wing alongside Özil and Mikhi (and Xhaka someplace very far away).
You know it’s funny to see the comments now, as I said this would happen when we bought Auba. I had commented that we’re fixing the front wheels when our prob lies with the steering unit. I had said that Auba wouldn’t get enough service to make an impact like he had in Dortmund and everyone said with Ozil, Miki and Jack we should be deadly, but that hasn’t happened. While everyone berates our defenders and justifiably so, to an extent but our prob lies in not controlling the game in midfield. Arsene has blundered in handling his midfielders in… Read more »
As much as i despise mourinho…in a very similar position to arsenal the previous season he had the balls to give up on the league and top 4, and focussed 100% on winning the euopa league to get into champs league the following (this) season.
That is EXACTLY what we need to do. Unfortunately for us Wenger has all but broken this squad of players and we’re about to face a resergent Milan.
I’m having a poo