Worrisome Injuries But Being Out Of The COC Is Helpful

Match Review: Sheffield Wednesday 3 Arsenal 0 - League Cup 27.10.15

Tuesday night was one to forget for a number of reasons. The fact that we were unceremoniously dumped out by lower league opposition was secondary to the fact that we lost two key players to injury. Walcott and Chamberlain will now miss games against Swansea, Bayern and Sp*rs, which leaves us horribly light. As I stated after the Everton game, this is now a full blown injury crisis.

Wenger made nine changes from the weekend, with Özil, Alexis, Cazorla, Bellerin, Coquelin and Koscielny not travelling. Glen Kamara started in midfield with Flamini, while Iwobi and Campbell played out wide. Mertesacker, Giroud and Cech were the only first team regulars on show and it showed as we moved the ball tentatively and looked devoid of attacking intent.

That really, was the story of the whole match. I’m not sure what I can say other than that without our most creative players, there was no tempo to the passing and Wednesday repelled everything we tried with complete ease. What really didn’t help was losing Chamberlain five minutes in and then his replacement, Walcott, following him down the tunnel just fourteen minutes later. We ended up having made two changes in twenty minutes and young Bennacer was thrown on for his first Arsenal appearance.

The game itself was crap from our point of view. We made three rubbish mistakes that led to three stupid goals and we never looked like getting one for ourselves. To be honest I wasn’t upset at all, we had no option but to rotate and give some young players a run out due to our injury situation and the fixtures coming up. Even with the nine changes we still managed to lose two key players, so I think the idea that we should have gone all out to win is fanciful. This cup is not and has never been a priority. Of course it would be great to win it and in a way it’s a shame that we haven’t under Wenger, but I’m actually quite glad we’re out. We’re going to be short for the Christmas period as it is, so frankly it’s a good thing we don’t have these extra fixtures.

As for Sheffield Wednesday, good luck to them. They played really well, their fans created a great atmosphere and Hillsborough is an awesome ground to visit. Hopefully they get a home tie in the next round and push on to the semi-finals, maybe even the final. Nothing should be taken away from them because of the weakened team we played, they had to beat what was put in front of them and they did that very well. For us, I don’t think the result will have much of an impact on team morale. It might be a bit embarrassing to have been dumped out in the manner we were, but most of those who will play on Saturday at Swansea weren’t involved on Tuesday at Wednesday…

The big problem for us is the right flank, with Walcott and Chamberlain out until the international break along with Ramsey. The only options at the moment seem to be Joel Campbell or Bellerin, which does not fill me with glee. Campbell was not the worst player on the pitch on Tuesday, but he wasn’t that good either. Every competitive appearance he’s made for us has been a bit rubbish and playing Bellerin on the wing would mean either Debuchy or Chambers against Montero, which is terrifying. Personally I think Wenger will stick with Campbell and have Iwobi or Reine-Adelaide on the bench as back up, when the latter returns from the U17s World Cup. We have three games to get through until the injury crisis abates somewhat. The squad will need to dig deep and make sure their returns don’t come too late.

Teams

Sheffield Wednesday (4-5-1)
Wildsmith, Hunt, Lees, Loovens (Y), Pudil, Hutchinson (Y) (McGugan 80’), Wallace (Y), Lee, Bannan (Semedo 75’), Helan, Lucas João (Nuhiu 85’)
Subs
Palmer, Semedo, Nuhiu, McGugan, Bus, Sasso, Price

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Cech, Debuchy (Y), Mertesacker, Chambers, Gibbs, Flamini, Kamara (Bielik 78’), Iwobi, Campbell (Y), Chamberlain (Walcott 5’ (Bennacer 19’)), Giroud
Subs
Macey, Monreal, Gabriel, Bielik, Reine-Adelaide, Bennacer, Walcott

Player Ratings

Cech - 4/10 - Didn’t try to save any of the goals
Debuchy - 2/10 - Looks like he wants to leave, I’ll happily drive him
Mertesacker - 5/10 - Didn’t do much wrong
Chambers - 4/10 - Made a bit of a rookie error that resulted in a goal
Gibbs - 4/10 - His regression since Monreal took his place has been alarming
Flamini - 5/10 - One of our better players on the night, which says a lot…
Kamara - 3/10 - A chastening evening for the youngster, looked all at sea
Campbell - 4/10 - Not a lot to to give us confidence ahead of three potential starts for him
Chamberlain - N/A - Twanged a muscle
Iwobi - 5/10 - Showed some signs of promise but obviously not ready
Giroud - 4/10 - Barely noticed him at times, but that’s not all his fault
Subs
Walcott - N/A - Twanged a muscle too
Bennacer - 3/10 - Obviously a good prospect, but was out of his depth
Bielik - 5/10 - Showed some promise, probably the best of the youngsters

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