Wenger Wants to Change the Rules
Arsène Wenger is bewailing the rule that has rendered Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ineligible when Arsenal faces Östersund in the Europa League. He is being forced to make use of Danny Welbeck to lead the line when the team appears in Sweden in the absence of the both Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
Arsenal is Looking Good, Considering
The loss of these two key players will no doubt be felt, as punters who support the team thanks to the sports betting NZ and the rest of the world makes available will be only too happy to tell you. But, as the team touched down in northern Sweden to resume their Europa League antics, they were significantly stronger stronger than Wenger’s standard rotated selection, albeit one striker and one forward short.
Lacazette was set to start, but he underwent knee surgery on Monday, and Aubameyang remained in London because he had played for his previous club, Borussia Dortmund, in the Champions League this season and so the rules say he can’t take part.
Many Agree with Wenger
Wenger has insisted that clubs across Europe are unanimous in thinking that this rule is totally outdated. He talked about the amount being paid in transfers these days, mentioning figures of £50 million, £60 million, and £70 million, and wondering what the point of these enormous payments were if players were not able to perform.
Aubameyang’s Case is Especially Odd
Wenger finds the situation Aubameyang finds himself in to be especially strange, as the striker from Gabon is not allowed to enter a competition in which he has not kicked a single ball this whole season!
Under these circumstances, Welbeck is the only senior striker available, and the fact that the Englishman will be supported by Mesut Özil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a clear indication of how seriously Wenger is taking the Europa League games now that he has not managed to coast through the group stage. Wenger stated that Arsenal is heading into direct knockout, and he and his players are more than aware of the increased risk they are facing.
Wenger is Full of Praise
Wenger had only good things to say about the way in which the young club has grown under the supervision of Graham Potter. Wenger stated that Potter had done a great job, and had had a huge impact on the way the team played football. He said they were playing more intelligently, and that, when he reviewed their tapes, he understood why they had done so well against Berlin and Bilbao.
Wenger said that they would need to adapt at once, because they had no experience in practicing on these types of pitches. He stated that the team’s technical prowess should allow them to do this quickly, and that the temperature was not hugely different from that of London, so he didn’t think it would present too much of a problem. He stated that his squad had battled freezing cold winds before, and that they would be able to manage just fine.
He ended off by saying that Potter would try to use these weather conditions to his team’s benefit, but that Arsenal’s would be an north Sweden stadium with seating capacity for 8 000!
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