Match Reaction vs West Bromwich Albion (COC tie).

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

The whole prioritising mentality has amounted to nothing for us, we go out of everything in the same feeble manner anyway.

Spot on.

[Master Splinter]

The whole prioritising mentality has amounted to nothing for us, we go out of everything in the same feeble manner anyway.

Expertly put.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I'd usually agree but the squad is wafer thin. We play a full strength team in the cup games, we only risk losing them in future cup games because the fatigue will catch up to them in the league. If we play the kids we may unearth so gems that are ready for the first team.

We have a good shot at the title. City look good now but they have a new coach and you just don't know what will happen. I remember when Chelsea looked good when Scolari came in as coach. They were scoring for fun then it all fell apart. After this summer, my expectations have been set a little higher. That desperation for a cup/any cup has gone. For me, that mentality stemmed from this squad needing to believe in themselves and this club. A self esteem boost. But if we continue to spend money on players like Ozil, the team will automatically get that from the sort of players we're bringing in.

The fact we have a wafer thin squad is precisely why we won't win the league and why we cannot pin our hopes on it whilst forfeiting the cups. All it takes is for one important player to be injured for one game and his replacement to have a mare resulting in dropped points. Said replacement may not even need to have a nightmare.All it takes is for him to not be of the requisite quality. In reality that scenario will probably happen several times over this season and it could even happen tomorrow, resulting in an accumulation of dropped points.

Gone are the days of us winning the league with a prominent base of 15 players like in 2004. They were individually and collectively better than the current side and even then were monumentally fortunate in terms of injuries. The current side are falling like hot sacks a crap.

The year Scolari was at Chelsea may have fell a part but we weren't the ones to capitalise and take advantage. If City implode this season it is more likely that one of Man U or Chelsea themselves will take advantage.

IF we buy in January that is actually just as much reason for us to not throw the COCup because we will be better equipped.

That said, I don't see why it needs to be a choice between strict first team players or the under 21's. We won't have all our players available (at any 1 point this season!) and we needn't play a team entirely of kids.....just a mix of 1st teamers, fringe players and younglings. Ie Giroud, Gnabry Flamini, Rosicky, Wilshere, Monreal, Jenks...... Moreover, Chelsea may well not play a best 11 either and will mix and match just as I am proposing we do.

Even Wednesday's team against WBA wasn't 11 kids and if it was, we would have most definitely gone out in my honest view.

[Grebbo]

The whole prioritising mentality has amounted to nothing for us, we go out of everything in the same feeble manner anyway.

Yup, exactly.

Didn't we play our strongest teams against Bradford in the semi and Birmingham in the final??? Look how that turned out.

We're not going to win the league or the Champs Lge and the FA Cup is much harder to win than the League Cup so let's just play a strong team against Chavs and see what happens. We should have some players back by then anyway.

[Gooner23]

Go for the COC I say

[Nayan]

as soon as one of the first team gets injured in a COC match everyone will be calling for wenger's head for not playing the kids in it.
fuck the league cup.

[Power n Glory]

The fact we have a wafer thin squad is precisely why we won't win the league and why we cannot pin our hopes on it whilst forfeiting the cups. All it takes is for one important player to be injured for one game and his replacement to have a mare resulting in dropped points. Said replacement may not even need to have a nightmare.All it takes is for him to not be of the requisite quality. In reality that scenario will probably happen several times over this season and it could even happen tomorrow, resulting in an accumulation of dropped points.

Gone are the days of us winning the league with a prominent base of 15 players like in 2004. They were individually and collectively better than the current side and even then were monumentally fortunate in terms of injuries. The current side are falling like hot sacks a crap.

The year Scolari was at Chelsea may have fell a part but we weren't the ones to capitalise and take advantage. If City implode this season it is more likely that one of Man U or Chelsea themselves will take advantage.

IF we buy in January that is actually just as much reason for us to not throw the COCup because we will be better equipped.

That said, I don't see why it needs to be a choice between strict first team players or the under 21's. We won't have all our players available (at any 1 point this season!) and we needn't play a team entirely of kids.....just a mix of 1st teamers, fringe players and younglings. Ie Giroud, Gnabry Flamini, Rosicky, Wilshere, Monreal, Jenks...... Moreover, Chelsea may well not play a best 11 either and will mix and match just as I am proposing we do.

Even Wednesday's team against WBA wasn't 11 kids and if it was, we would have most definitely gone out in my honest view.

The same logic applies to to a cup game. One slip and you're out of the competition.

Did we not lose our opening game of the season? But where are we in the league right now? It's possible to recover in the league because other teams can slip too. We have to at least maintain the best and in form first team players we have up until January. If we're still in the race for the league by then, we have as good a chance as anyone else. If we actually challenge for the league this year, it's a big statement. A League Cup victory and scraping 4th won't be big enough. It would be nice to break the hoodoo but I'm thinking back to the original purpose of the Emirates and what Gazidis said this summer. We're looking at competing with the elite clubs in Europe and my expectations for this season have gone up a notch.

I agree that the league cup can act as a spring board but I just don't think we have the squad to do it this year or not right now. Against Chelsea, we should play the young players and maybe a few players that are struggling for form and need games. Wilshere, Arteta and Rosicky maybe.....forget risking Giroud or key defenders. It's too risky. Forget playing Ozil or Cazorla as well.

[Özim]

as soon as one of the first team gets injured in a COC match everyone will be calling for wenger's head for not playing the kids in it.
fuck the league cup.

People have been calling for his head for years, so no change there tbh.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

The same logic applies to to a cup game. One slip and you're out of the competition.

Did we not lose our opening game of the season? But where are we in the league right now? It's possible to recover in the league because other teams can slip too. We have to at least maintain the best and in form first team players we have up until January. If we're still in the race for the league by then, we have as good a chance as anyone else. If we actually challenge for the league this year, it's a big statement. A League Cup victory and scraping 4th won't be big enough. It would be nice to break the hoodoo but I'm thinking back to the original purpose of the Emirates and what Gazidis said this summer. We're looking at competing with the elite clubs in Europe and my expectations for this season have gone up a notch.

I agree that the league cup can act as a spring board but I just don't think we have the squad to do it this year or not right now. Against Chelsea, we should play the young players and maybe a few players that are struggling for form and need games. Wilshere, Arteta and Rosicky maybe.....forget risking Giroud or key defenders. It's too risky. Forget playing Ozil or Cazorla as well.

A cup triumph is not reliant on a strong squad, it is helped by it. There is a difference in my opinion. The same is not true for a league campaign.

So what you are saying is that you don't actually want us to play a team of kids? You want it to be a team of kids, mixed in with fringe players and players struggling for games. Well isn't that something closer to what I was actually suggesting then? Sure you may think that Giroud shouldn't play or Mertesacker or whoever but in any given game I suspect that we are unlikely to agree on a line up in any case. Even in an important league game.

You pointing out our loss to Villa only supports the idea we can afford to drop points (somewhere) in the league along the way....even if it is as a result of fatigue from a previous cup game so I'm not sure what value that example is.

If we somehow scrape 4th or even finish outside of it woe betide us, let's not pretend as if it's because we played Olivier Giroud and Mertesacker in the COCup. It will because we went into the season with a thin squad and finished it with a thin squad that are predictably tired and many of whom picked up injuries. It will be hard for Giroud to keep up he is doing....not just because there are that many games, but because it is unheard of for a striker to score a goal a game for an entire season as that would put him in the region of 35+ league goals alone.

I don't think we should take the COCup seriously because it's a springboard, I think we should do so because it's actually a tournament we might have a realistic chance of winning if we take it seriously and simply because it is a cup.

[Power n Glory]

I don't think we should take the COCup seriously because it's a springboard, I think we should do so because it's actually a tournament we might have a realistic chance of winning if we take it seriously and simply because it is a cup.

That's where we differ. I believe we have a realistic chance of winning the league this year. So many new managers coming in for our rivals....this won't happen again. Not under Wenger at least. Maybe it's the new money talking, but right now I feel as if the Carling Cup is something we should not take seriously. I usually wouldn't feel this way and would be in total agreement but this is a big season for Wenger. The Capital One Cup wouldn't be enough to convince me that he's the man to take us forward. It wouldn't prove much.