The fixture list for the new season reveals that after five of the six champions league group stage matches, Arsenal will be away. Thus the club could be involved in a long trip back from some far flug corner of Europe, arriving back perhaps Thursday lunchtime, and then on Friday face a trip away again.
With the inevitable injuries it means there is no chance of playing the same team over and over again through both Euro and domestic games.
This is undoubtedly the reason why Wenger is bringing through so many younger players so that he can chop and change in the coming season in the way he has not been able to do before now.
That’s not to say that all the newcomers are ready to slog it out with the likes of Bolton, Blackburn and the other cloggie teams, but the ability to move around one or two players could be very helpful.
Denilson, Diaby, Ramsey, Vela, Merida, Randall and Barazite could all be included on this basis, along with the option of Theo moving from wing to centre forward, Eboue returning to full back, and so on. And with van Persie and Eduardo playing we should be much better prepared than last year – even if we can’t have Rosicky.
