Morning all, not a lot new regarding the West Ham game in terms of team news. Your guess as to how and who he’ll rotate is as good as mine.
There does seem to be plenty of discussion about whether or not we should rotate at all, many feeling we should try and maintain momentum by playing as strong a team as possible. And that does make sense on one level but for me the bottom line is we have to prioritise the league. We’ve got two tough games coming up in the next 6 days and while I do want us to do well in the cup I’d prefer 6 points in the race for the title.
And I’m pretty sure those who want Arsene to play his best team would call him foolish and naive if he played his full team and we failed to pick up two wins in the league. Or, indeed, if we picked up more injuries due to wear and tear. I don’t think for a second it’s disrespecting the FA Cup by acknowledging the league is a more important trophy. If we were sitting 10 or 13 points back from the leaders then the cup becomes more significant. The fact is if we win our game in hand against Bolton on Wednesday night then we go ahead of Man United into second place, just a point behind Chelsea.
That’s the carrot, not a 4th round FA Cup tie. I have no doubt we’ll put out a team today capable of winning the game but to not be mindful of what lies ahead of us would be unwise, in my opinion. We cannot afford any more injuries, we need to be as fresh as possible for a Bolton team likely to have a new manager (meaning Jack Wilshere’s potential loan to Burnley would be off if Owen Coyle went there), and that means giving fringe players a chance. And who knows, maybe it’ll be the just the chance some of them need to show they’re knocking on the door. Fingers crossed the lads who do get the nod can get the right result for us. Anything else we can deal with afterwards.
Looking around for a quick news round-up – and Sylvester has been talking about his desire to play, which is totally understandable. He’s not my favourite guy in the world, and never will be, but he’s a decent professional, isn’t rocking the boat and understands his place in the overall scheme of things. And as that is unlikely to change I can’t see him signing a new deal when he does sit down with the boss.
Marouane Chamakh says Arsenal are ‘pressuring’ him to join us this month. Arsene Wenger says he hasn’t spoken to him at all. What’s funny is that the only reason this guy’s name is as well known is because we haven’t signed him. A real profile boost.
Meanwhile the Mail says we’re not making a bid for Andre Pierre Gignac because AW feels he’s not up to our standards. That provides them with a fantastic blueprint for about ten billion other stories. “Arsenal will not sign Malcolm Christie as he’s not up to their standards”.
Samir Nasri lifts the lid again on the manager’s half-time reaction at Anfield:
I have never seen the boss shouting like that before. Normally when we are behind he tries to highlight the positives about our play. But there was nothing positive this time. Not one of the players dared look up for 10 minutes.
I did not think he was capable of shouting like that. He told us we did not deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt, and he was right. What he said has done us good. All of us really got it in the neck that day.
Splendid. There’s nothing quite as effective as scaring the shit out of people who don’t expect you to scare the shit out of them. And the reaction of the team since has been very positive, so it’s all good.
Hopefully nothing similar will be required today at Upton Park. And on that note, that’s your lot. Till tomorrow.
