Should Arsenal play a weakened team against Olympiakos?
Now that Arsenal have qualified for the Champions League knockout stages as winners of their group, then surely Arsene Wenger will play a team made up completely of reserves that didn’t play in the game against Wigan on the preceeding weekend?
When asked, Wenger said that he would “respect the competition”, and he will still want his team to remain unbeaten by getting at least a draw at Olympiakos. At the moment all three of the other teams could still progress but Arsenal could give an unfair advantage to the Greek side if they field a weakened team, but should Wenger care about the other teams?
“The only thing I will say is that we still want to win the game and respect the competition,” Wenger said.
“We are Arsenal Football Club and we want to be respected for that. It doesn’t put you under pressure to play players who are on the verge of being injured and therefore of course you can be a bit more cautious.”
“We haven’t lost a game up until now and I believe we had a very difficult group,”
Now the Gunners can sit back and concentrate on the domestic competitions while Chelsea, Man Utd and Man City all are still fighting for their place in the knockout rounds. I am certain that Wenger will play his reserves, but is that the morally wrong thing to do?
Trackback: trackback from your own site.
COMMENTS GUIDELINES: ANY COMMENTS WITH SWEARING OR PERSONAL ABUSE WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT EXCEPTION: PLEASE DISCUSS THE SUBJECT IN A FREINDLY AND OBJECTIVE MANNER. SERIAL ABUSERS WILL BE BANNED. PLEASE BE NICE TO YOUR FELLOW GOONERS!
I agree with the coach, we are not under pressure to use our best 11. while we want to respect the competition, this is an opportunity to give a run to players who haven’t had game time so far. May be rest RVP and give Park or Chamakh a run. He may also consider resting the hard working Song and Arteta and give the young DM a run for 90 minutes. It might be a chance to see how match fit Diaby is. The critical thing is that who ever the coach sends out there should play for Arsenal and play to win.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
48 
1
No it isn’t as we should give much needed rest to important players. Why should we risk the safety of fatigued players when we’ve already qualified? How would we all be if we played RVP and he suffers a poor tackle and wrecks his ankle again, in what is a dead rubber for us? It’s not our fault the other three are fighting for the remaining spot.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
17 
1
Shezzy
Djourou Miquel Vermaelen Santos
Diaby Frimpong
Chamberlain Ramsey Ryo
Park
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
42 
6
It would be the most stupid thing to do if he field the best eleven.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
38 
0
morally wrong? well stoke and birmingham didn’t have a problem with that when they were breaking our players… and many other teams… so why should we take risks… were barcelona moral when they bought fabregas… was nasri moral when he left arsenal…
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
49 
1
in my eyes the team should be
fabby
djourou miguel squillaci santos
diaby frimpong
oxlade park ryo/benayoun
chamakh
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
23 
8
The fight for the top spot has been won already. So win or lose agains Olympiakos does not matter. Am or the view that some of our best players like R.v.p,Song,Arteta,Gervinho,Vermealen,Kosieny,Walcott, and Ramsey, should be rested to avold injuries and the likes of Park,Alex,Chamarhk,Miguel,Cocoquine and injury returnee Diaby should be given chance to prove them selves. Gunners till Tom catches Jerry.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
23 
0
Szczesny
Djourou Miquel Mertesacker Santos
Frimpong Diaby Ramsay
Oxlade-chamberlin Park Arshavin
subs.
Mannone
Vermaelen
Yennaris
Coquelin
Ryo
Chamake
Arteta
Opinions divided. What do you think?
9 
3
fabianski
djourou miquel mertesacker kochileny
oxalade benayoun frimpong ryo
chammak park chou young
FOR GOD SAKE, GIVE THEM THEIR CHANCE, n REST OUR 11 STARS !!!
ARSENAL FOR LIFE n DEATH !
Rate this comment:
5 
6
give the key players a rest. our interest should be about the things that affect us not MORAL
Rate this comment:
8 
0
YES
Rate this comment:
2 
6
Granted we have a squad but it looks like everyone on here thinks the points are in the bag.IF we rotate lets hope we don’t come unstuck,COME ON ARSENAL.
Rate this comment:
2 
0
Obviously, some players should get their deserved rest for this game. RVP, Song, Arteta, Walcott, Gervinho, Santos, Per and Koscielny should all rest. Probably Vermualen too should rest. This is a game to try our Park, Chamberlain, Ryo (I think he is injured though) Diaby, Coqueline, Frimpong and Chamakh some game time. They should be encouraged to stake a claim to the starting 11 with this game.
Rate this comment:
7 
0
yes field our second team.i believe they can stil win olympiacos…gunners 4 life
Rate this comment:
8 
0
yes
Rate this comment:
2 
1
persie,song, gervinho and walcott need to rest for the oncoming man-city. rosisky,arshavin,chamberlain, chamach, djorou and diaby should influence the team otherwise. a frequently used Tyre will wear off faster than unused.it’s high time we saw true colors of benayoun and chu young.
Rate this comment:
3 
0
If we played our first XI and one of the key players picked up a long-term injury in a meaningless game that would be poor management. It’s not morally wrong, it’s squad rotation and it’s a necessity in the modern game with the amount of matches played in a season by the top clubs.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
10 
0
I think Arsenal should play a completely weakened they have done their job now just recoup there players .
Djouru miquel squilachi George Brislen-Hall
frimmpond diaby coquelin
oxlade chamberlin Miyaichi
chamakh
Rate this comment:
4 
2
I’m fan of Olympiakos of course and i was there 2 years ago
when we won 1-0 and passed next round.Arsenal played with many subs but still was better and luck helped us.In first round 2-1 in England was an unlucky score for my team that deserved a better result.Arsenal must come and play for the win not afraid of antiathletic play because first it is not our style and second the 2 teams have excelent relations. Now we have a good team (much better than that 2 years ago) and with a little luck we can succeed.Best wishes for Arsenals afternext match in Europe.
Rate this comment:
6 
1
Yeah…why not…Arsenal are through already…they should start with benayoun,park,frimpong,coquelin,arshavin,rosicky,djourou,miquel,santos,fabiansky,Chamakh,diaby.
I would like to see this lot play together and see what they can do. Theres plenty of other choices from our youth team too. A change of formation to 4-4-2 would be great
Rate this comment:
2 
0
I hate this, we played well to become group winners its a nothing game for us, wenger can play what ever team he wants.
Rate this comment:
5 
0
VM
JD PM IM AS
EF FC
TR AD AA
JYP
Rate this comment:
3 
2
I will love to see diaby prove to all gooner what he can do and i belive he wount let us down. Park also is another man i want to see. I belive in park dont just know why. And i believe with our reserve we can still win.
Rate this comment:
3 
0
we should mix it up so it gives yung guns a chance and the bench sum time,likes ov park chamak ryo the ox etc
Rate this comment:
0 
0
to me this isnt even a debate. we have done our job of getting through top, it isnt our fault that the other teams arent through. we must look after the interest of our club and our players. fuck football morals, since when have they existed anyways. (taylor, shawcross, barca, a.cole, nasri)
Rate this comment:
0 
0
hwy play our best players when we have other players to play its better to give some young stars some game tym plus some European experience than risk our best players for a game whch does not affect us its called rotation we don need moral but good management on our side
Rate this comment:
0 
0
They have nothing to play for. We fought so hard to top the group so we can rest our key player. So yes. Do it.
Rate this comment:
3 
0
Morals aside, it’s all about tactics. I agree with what most have said, rest our star players and play the youngsters.
……….Mannone………….
.Djoure…Per..Miguel..Santos.
……Frimpong….Coquelin….
…………Diaby………….
..Ox……. Park………..Ryo
or
……….Mannone………….
.Djoure…Per..Miguel..Santos.
……Frimpong….Benayoun….
…………………………
..Ox….Chamakh…Park…..Ryo
Play Chamakh right up front, use Ryo and Ox to send the crosses in…Park just behind to have a few cracks at a distance. I believe Frimpong and Coquelin will dominate that midfield as they are both machines.
Either way, Frimpong, Coquelin, Benayoun, Ryo, Park, Ox should all be given a chance.
Subs: Rosicky, Arshavin, Ramsey, Fabianski, Kossie, Diaby, Chamakh
Rate this comment:
3 
2
Stars won’t play, it would be insane beyond believe. Why do so many people want Frimpong and Coquelin to play? Coq is soooo much better
Rate this comment:
1 
0
we have a strong 2nd squad to field out against Olympiakos. it will be a really TOUGH game and a real test for the second team players (who are trying to earn a 1st team spot) and for the younger players (reserves). we should field out all second team or reserves players. NO 1st team players, because we should avoid any fatigue and injuries for coming 2 months.
So here it goes:
Fabianski
Yennaris Squillaci Miquel Djourou
Frimpong Coquelin
Rosicky
Chamberlain Benayoun
Park
Subs:
Mannone, Chamack, Diaby, Boateng, Eastmond, Ozyakup.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Just wondering….is Adam Kemp on holiday?
Rate this comment:
4 
0
We let all the reserves play.
We are through and top of the group it is not disrespect to the competition in it just logic.
Rate this comment:
2 
0
Rest the first team and let a not so weakened team play to show AW they are still in the arsenal team.
Rate this comment:
1 
0
It is the wrong thing 2 do. How would u feel if arsenal where still fighting for a place and we where 3rd and say dortmand had finished top. Imagine we had to play Marseille and needed Dortmand 2 win.
Imagine what we would feel like if Dortmand played a weakend team against Olipaycos and then we got knocked out because dortmand played a weakened team. THats exacaly what 2 of the other teams in the group will be feeling if we play a weakend team.
Sorry guys but its the truth,.
Rate this comment:
0 
1
I love it when we give our youngsters a run in the Champions League while those who left us for “bigger teams” like Nasri and Clichy can only watch from the Man City bench and Adebayor can only dream CL! Ouch!!!
Rate this comment:
4 
0
wenger should play the young players n i believe they would gain a good amount of experience through this game.
Rate this comment:
3 
0
Trust me
If diaby can manage to get his normal game
and if we have alex oxlade chamberlain playin
i dont think the Greek side will have an easy match
Rate this comment:
1 
0
@raghav ryo’s injured lad, so id put arshavin there, he’s not getting enough playing time and can atleast get a game against a strong olympiacos side
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Let’s not forget that these Greek teams are the ultimate upset kings, they do somehow manage to sneak in the win at times. But at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if they do, we might as well play a weaker team not only to give the youngers a chance to shine against a relatively weak team but also to give our big boys a rest.
Looking forward to the game!
Also, I’ll just mention, if anyone is into conspiracy theory debunking, viral videos and new hip hop music, check out ItWasTyped.com
Cheers!
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I would like to see Ryo, Park and Ox play
Rate this comment:
4 
0
Team:
Gk: Fabianski
RB: Djourou CB: Vermaelen CB: Squillaci LB: Santos
DM: Frimpong/Coquellin
CM: Diaby CM: Benayoun
RW: Chamberlain LW: Arshavin
ST: Park
Rosicky and Miyachi are injured. Chamakh has been started a few times and has been unimpressive. Vermaelen has just got back from injury and could do with some extra time on the pitch despite his recently good performances. Arshavin has lost his place in the first team due to the arrival and good form of Gervinho. Squillaci and Fabianksi dont have many features this season and Fabianski is complaining about game time. Chamberlain is eagerly anticipated and has been effective so far, bar his feature against Bolton in the League Cup. Santos needs some more game time to adjust further and strengthen his defensive positioning. Frimpong and Coquellin have looked real gems and one should get a start. Coquellin has also complained about game time so maybe him. I say Give park a go his goal in the Cup was beautiful he is showing real glimpses of quality. This is a team with experience in the champions league as well as youth who have shown strength so far. Not to mention some game time for those recently returned from injury.
Arsenals performance in the Champions League have afforded them the right to rest some first team players. This is one of the reasons teams who participate attempt to win their groups as early as possible. Albeit, a win benefits us financially and so we should also aim to win. The money received from such games may come in useful once the financial fair play rules are introduced.
I think this team is more than capable.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I it the best opportunity to expose our youngsters and create new heroes to replace those who abandoned us like Nasri and Adebayor.anyone in arsenal is a proffessional and deserves to play so no weak squad in gunners
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Of course you don’t field your best eleven when your already through .but don’t think the reserves that he fields are going to sit back and watch,they have something to prove also and are fighting for a spot on the first team .
Rate this comment:
1 
0