2 – Rotate The Squad
Right then, we’ve had this extended rest period following the Euro’s so it’s time to get some of our biggest characters back into the starting XI.
There was something missing in the game against Liverpool, whether it was leaders or that little bit of stability on the ball, it didn’t look like the Arsenal side we know.
As aware I am of rushing players back into action, Mesut Ozil, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud have all had enough time to recover from their Euro’s exit back at the start of July.
We’ll wait for an update from Wenger but each of them should be back in contention, which could prove to be massive for the Gunners, who we could see line up completely differently.
Granit Xhaka didn’t start last weekend due to lack of match fitness, but a brief spell in the game plus a week of training should have equipped him to take on Claudio Ranieri’s side.
He joins Jack Wilshere on the road to recovery, and with Aaron Ramsey’s latest injury there could be a spot opening up for the Englishman to get his season underway.
Whichever way you look at it, Wenger has enough bodies in midfield to rotate this squad and the players that seemed lost against Liverpool need to get the boot (Coquelin I’m looking at you).
Personally, I’d like to see Xhaka and Elneny in the holding duo, with Ozil coming back into the side to replace Ramsey whilst The Ox and Alexis take control of the wings.
That, in a perfect world is what I’d like to see. But this isn’t a perfect world, it’s Wenger’s world and I think he won’t want to rush his Euro’s stars back into action after seeing what’s happened to Ramsey.