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There have been a few stories published this morning, after
last night's fantastic
comeback draw at the Lane, with headlines saying stuff
like "Wenger to keep faith with youth"
and "Wenger to stick with
second string...". But is that what he actually said?
"I think most of them will play next week..."
"Most of them".
"I think".
Wenger rightly praises the team which pulled off such a memorable
result last night, and it does seem that our second string have
shown now that they have what it takes. In previous years they've
done well in the early stages this cup, winning games at a canter,
but then been found wanting when coming up against a team with heart.
This year it would seem that they can do both.
However, let's sound a note of realism. I'm sure that the second half
turnaround last night was largely due to the half time team talk. But
it was also due to enforced substitutions. Alexander Hleb came on
for Abou Diaby who was tiring in his first full game back from a
horrific 9 month injury, and then Emmanuel Eboue came on as soon
as the injury-prone Jeremie Aliadiere felt a twinge.
These two substitutes were instrumental in changing the face of the game.
Theo Walcott had been doing little down the right flank in the
first half, but Eboue gave Tottenham's full back a torrid time every time
he came forward. Hleb's running through the middle and down the
left made a huge difference too, not just in itself but because it
forced the home side to take some attention away from Cesc Fabregas,
and Cesc started to boss the game.
With Eboue and Hleb on the pitch, our line-up featured
them plus Kolo Toure, Philippe Senderos, Cesc, Justin Hoyte, Theo Walcott,
and Julio Baptista. There are some young players in there,
and the average age is low, but that's largely a reflection of the fact that the
average age of the Arsenal first-team squad is low. There are
in fact eight players in that list who we'd not be surprised to see
in the starting line-up for any first-team game.
Only Manuel Almunia, Armand Traore, and Denilson can really be considered "second string"
in the sense that has dominated Arsenal's League Cup selection in
previous years. And Almunia's good enough to be first choice keeper in
most Premiership teams.
I'm not saying we shouldn't be excited by our second string, I'm not saying
we shouldn't be confident about next week, and I'm not
saying we shouldn't use as many of them as we can get away with in that match.
I'm just saying let's be realistic about this and recognise what
it was that won us the second half last night. Talent, youth, and a whole
load of experience.
Can Wenger afford to go back to a weaker starting line-up? I think not,
and I suspect he knows it.
Call me a scaredy-cat if you like, but I really
don't want the first loss at our new stadium to come when Tottenham beat
us in the semi-final of a cup. Abou Diaby may be a star in the making,
but Gilberto will be available again after his ban. Alexandre Song may
be back from Cameroon, but we can't afford the mistakes his inclusion ahead
of say Mathieu Flamini would most probably bring. Baptista and Aliadiere (if fit)
must start, but why have a bench with no strikers on it, if Thierry Henry is fit?
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