Match report – Player Ratings – Video

Where to start with that one, eh? I suppose the first thing we should do is give credit to a Sheffield Wednesday side who worked really hard, took their chances well, and thoroughly deserved their win and passage into the next round. As disappointing as we were, they played this like a proper cup tie and got their reward for it.

From our point of view, we looked like a team that had put this right down our list of priorities. If it were pinned to the dressing room wall, I’d say it looks something like:

1 – Premier League
2 – Champions League
3 – FA Cup
4 – Get drains unblocked
5 – Extra milk this Friday
6 – Clean out cat litter
7 – Scold Calum Chambers for listening to the new Adele single repeatedly
…
903 – Capital One Cup

And look, in a way I understand it. Sure, there’s a trip to Wembley and a trophy to be won, but given the state of the squad – already without Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck, David Ospina and Tomas Rosicky – you can’t go for it on nights like last night. Players on the fringes, a sprinkle of ‘first team’ bodies, and some youngsters is typically the way we go anyway, especially against a team in a lower division, so it wasn’t an unusual team selection by any means.

What was unusual was the way we picked up two injuries which may make last night’s game a particularly costly one, aside from the result. Before kick-off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was going through an elaborate stretching routine on the halfway line, working those hamstrings as hard as he could, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when he pulled up after just 4 minutes.

He felt a ‘tightness’ apparently, but my suspicion is that tightness wasn’t something that just emerged in the opening moments of the game. Whether he’s been carrying a problem, whether he didn’t warm up properly, or whether there’s a fundamental problem there – he missed a lot of last season with similar issues – I can’t say. All I do know is that we can ill-afford to lose any more players to injury.

Which is why when his replacement, Theo Walcott, went off 10 minutes after coming on with a calf problem, you knew it was going to be one of those nights. On the one hand you want every Arsenal player to give everything they’ve got in every game; on the other if one of them had broken down to over-exertion they’d be roundly pilloried for getting themselves injured – especially in the wake of losing two players already.

With youngsters Glen Kamara and Alex Iwobi struggling, Ismael Bennacer was brought on to play the role of creative midfielder. It’s a tough enough job for young players, but when they have the right support and performance level from the more senior members of the side, we’ve seen how they can flourish on nights like this.

Afterwards, Arsene Wenger was unusually blunt about the debutants, saying:

It was too high [a level] for them. They are not ready to play at this level. None of them.

Which sounds harsh, but that appears to be the reality. He’s not saying they’ll never be good enough, just not now. And that’s a bit worrying because a couple more injuries and we’ll have no choice but to use some of them.

However, what’s more disappointing than young lads who aren’t ready for this level of football because they’re not old or experienced enough, is the fact that some of the players who should have chomping at the bit for some first team action looked just as unready.

The two full backs should have used last night as a reminder to Arsene Wenger that they’re ready to fight with Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal, but both Mathieu Debuchy and Kieran Gibbs did little else but cement their places on the bench. I know he was quiet last night, but look at Olivier Giroud’s response to being benched for Theo Walcott. He fought his way back into the first team; on the evidence of last night those two couldn’t fight their way out of a wet paper bag.

Mathieu Flamini was a two-goal hero against Sp*rs, last night proved that was as rare as it was enjoyable. His first contribution was an under-hit pass which almost put us into trouble. That set the tone, and quite what he was doing for the first goal is a mystery.

Further forward, the concern of seeing Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott injured was exacerbated by the performance of Joel Campbell. To his credit, on a night when simply trying seemed a step too far for most of his teammates, at least he worked hard, chased back, made some tackles, and put in the effort. It’s just that when he was in a position to do something in the final third, it was beyond him.

I think there’s a good reason why he hasn’t been involved much this season, and we saw what that was last night. Perhaps it’s harsh, maybe with a bit more playing time he might do something, but if we’re in a position where we’re having to use him in regularly in the Premier League or even Europe, then it’s more reflective of our own squad issues than his quality.

So, overall a poor night which may or may not have greater consequences. Obviously we’ll await news on the injury front, but we’ll also have to wait and see if this affects our momentum at all. Winning is a habit blah blah blah, but there’s truth to that, and even if we’ll bring back players for Saturday who should be fresher and more rested (not to mention of greater quality than most of last night’s team), we’ll have to ensure this result doesn’t have any impact on what we’re doing in the competitions were have made our top priority.

Finally, while I’m not really one to get overly exercised about what we wear, I think it would be remiss of me not to point out how hideous last night’s kit was. This ‘cup kit’ concept is, frankly, a load of old bollocks, just a marketing facade for ‘We want to sell you more gear’. And on a night when our home kit, or the away one, would have been more than sufficient to differentiate us from the opposition, we wore the one which was closest in colour/shade to Sheffield Wednesday. Ludicrous.

There’s a video on the Arsenal website where the designer talks about how he came up with this particular kit. I haven’t watched it, but if he says anything other than ‘I just made some random shapes in Microsoft Paint and pasted them onto a bog-standard shirt design’, he’s lying through his stupid mouth.

If we ever wear it again I would fully support a wholesale revolution at the club. We could bring in that bloke that runs Leeds United, sell the stadium to build a Super-Aldi, and it’d be the least we deserve for sporting such an abomination.

Right, that’s your lot for this morning. Let’s keep fingers crossed the prognosis on Walcott and The Ox isn’t too bad. News on that when we get it over on Arseblog News.

Till tomorrow.