After the 3-1 defeat to Stoke today, what are everyone’s thoughts on playing your strongest team for the FA Cup games? Personally, I don’t really have an opinion on this, but I’d like to hear what everyone else thinks.
Playing a weaker/younger side in the Carling Cup is totally justifiable, but the FA Cup has years of tradition and that extra little bit of nostalgia which the CC just doesn’t have. Saying that, the appeal of the FA Cup does seem to have gone missing over the past few years since ourselves and Man United started fielding weaker teams.
It’s great experience for the fringe players and the youngsters, and I’m sure most Arsenal fans were pleased to see the likes of Sol Campbell, Vela, Coquelin, Emmanuel-Thomas and co start today. Although some players didn’t perform as you’d like them to have, it’s always nice to see them on show to see what they are capable of.
If we did beat Stoke (with a full strength team), then we would have faced another tie in the middle of February, with an already congested and tricky month, where we face the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Stoke.
As I said earlier, I’m a little indifferent and don’t really have an opinion on this, but I’d be interested to find out what fellow Gooners think.
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Pass the buck eh! Arsenal simply don`t have the depth to challenge for League, Europe, FA Cup and Carling Cup and in the future ,if a twenty five player cap is introduced, nor will other top sides.
In order to do this you need to have multimillion pound players warming the bench and think of the wages bill. So, it really does come back to dollars and cents (pounds and pence).
One thing that does come out of the Stoke match and that is Wenger can not rely on his youngsters to fill in for some time to come so he will have to go shopping this summer.
tbh i think wenger did take it seriously – if he didnt, fabregas would not have played.
the question should be: whats more important, the PL or the FA cup…..and in our current situation it has to be the league. aston villa then the other big 4 teams. i reckon the games againt chelski and man usa and must win cos we would ‘get one over our rivals’, to send a message and to move us top with some points spare. we need to beat chelsea as well cos they beat us at home and they have a game in hand on us – we cant rely on other teams.
oh and back to the fa cup, i would rather we win it beating big teams than go all the way by beating the smaller teams.
with so many players already out I don’t think he really had much choice with such congested fixture list coming up-unfortunate but true
I just think players like Clichy and Rosicky, who clearly need match fitness, should have started today. I don’t it think it would have made a difference to be fair though. Stoke got into us from the off and they deserved the win.
The time wasting from the throw-ins is diabolical though. I was hoping we would take a lead and start wiping the ball down for corners and short throw-ins.
This towel malarky surely has to stop. We should kick off and get a ball boy to run on the pitch with some hardcore glue. Stick the ball to Fabregas’s feet and let him walk the ball into the net.
I’d rather put Super Glue on the ball before a Delap throw in. The we’ll see how many goals they can score in a season.
Sour grapes aside, Stoke deserved the win, but i for one would take our position in the PL and the CL any day over a moment of FA cup glory the muddy bog that is the Brittania!!
lud van, you’re totally right. I would take the PL and CL all day long. The FA Cup just doesn’t have the same appeal these days. I would probably say otherwise if we’d won today though
The perfect foil. If Fabregas plays it shows we are serious….Yeah! OK.
I was disappointed but not surprised. I think the towel use should be banned or we should wipe the ball everytime there is a free kick.
Stoke played hard physical football and our kids got bullied. Youth is not suited to the English ‘game’. It is perfect for football played within the laws of the game. The sporting has gone from football – it is now a greed game where winner gets paid.
Interestingly, Stoke have only won one game away from home in the Premiership this season.
No towels away from home!
it was a good result for us, too many games,, wenger was worried about picking up more injuries, the next string of games will define our season. I think for once we all (ALL) need to stand together and be united, a never walk alone attitude like those scouse pricks, lets all stand behind the team and stop criticizing, the manager and players.
wenger has to make tough decisions, and such a brilliant man has done the best he could, if we didnt have the games we have coming up, I am sure he would have fielded a stronger team, lets have some unflinching loyalty,some blind faith, we have enough people in this country who hate us as it is, we try to play the best football but for some reason they always have a problem with the arsenal.
Arsenal to me is like a marriage of unconditional love, there is going to be some bad times, but our manager has done what no other man could do, do you think ferguson or mourhino could do what wenger does on such a miser budget? wenger never gets the credit he deserves he even has fans who know alot less, tell him how to do his job, I am sick of it, stand behind the team or support someone like chelsea
Stop bagging Chelsea, I`m perfectly happy for them to come second (behind us that is). Watched the United v Hull game. To me there wasn`t four goals in it but I think Clichy could be kept busy when they come to Emirates.
So you’re paying money to be on gooner news now?
Whilst i agree that the League title is more important, i still think the team that was put out was not acceptable (and yes i would still have said this if we had won). For a manager who has not won anything for 5 years to almost concede defeat in this game is inexcusable. Im sure i will cop some some stick for saying it, but as a club we have not earnt the right (based on the last 5 years) to field such a weak side in a competition that could deliver some silverware. We werent playing Yoevil at the Emirates, we were playing a premier league side with a good home record. If we go on to win the title this year, this game will be forgotten by most. Hopefully i am one of them….
i dislike wenger’s decision but i had to respect the decision. managers had to take the decision even if it is the most unpopular one. so we are divided in our opinions, meaning there are stills gooners out here telling him he is correct.
i can imagine how it is in dressing room with so much incoming tough matches and he has been fielding the almost the same players in most games especially the back four, now they’re now not fit to play but if he still insist them to play, what will the other players think? reserves are meant to play when 1st eleven cannot play, or better not to play. that’s the rule of the decision. In fact campbell and silvestre played okay IMO.
one remark i do want to highlight is our backup strikers are not good enough. JET is slow and vela played to much on the left. walcott had no impact.
The fucking towel should be banned. Use your scrap hand or your stinky shirt to wipe the ball!
My only problem is that on the form we’ve been on, winning does become a habit, but unfortunately so does losing. Let’s just hope this hasn’t affected us from a psychological point of view.
The towel is an interesting point, as each throw in now takes 20-30 seconds. Surely that is not within FIFA directives!
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Stoke have proven beyond doubt that the capability to use longggggg throw ins is of huge value. The angle and flight of the ball is totally different from a kick off the ground such as a free or corner and obviously causes problems to opposing defences. Why oh why oh why can none of our hugely paid superstars not spend a few weeks training to throw the peskey ball? Rory Delap is the same species as the rest of us, he’s just developed a technique that can be copied with application and a little effort. If necessary get some boffin to coach throwing and create a Delap that can also play ball the Arsenal way. Duh.
Fair play to Stoke, hope they beat City.
Forget training our players to throw long balls, we should train them to cross the ball.
In the match we had like 4 corners one after the other, and all of them were crap.
I’m no pro footballer, and I rarely play football, but even I can get a nice delivary in, especially when there is no threat of me losing the ball.