Arsene Wenger claims to have 'selection solutions' reather than selection problems at Arsenal
Friday 28 September 2012
Related articles
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has welcomed his “selection solutions” as he tries to put a team together capable of beating Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea tomorrow.
The Gunners boss made the expected wholesale changes for Wednesday night's Capital One Cup ties against Coventry, with Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin both on the scoresheet in a 6-1 victory which also saw summer signing Olivier Giroud open his account.
Captain Thomas Vermaelen is expected to return to lead the side for tomorrow's lunchtime kick-off, having missed the 1-1 draw at Manchester City with a virus.
That means Laurent Koscielny, whose goal at the Etihad Stadium extended Arsenal's unbeaten start to the new campaign, could drop back down to the bench, along with the likes of Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, another scorer in midweek.
For Wenger, though, it is a welcome headache.
"I have selection solutions, it is not a problem to have good players," he said.
"When you don't have good players people say 'but you do not have good players'. When you have good players they say you have a problem as well.
"You cannot play a season with two centre-backs, you just want good players in every position.
"At the moment they are all doing well, I just will select the players who are most suited to play against our opponent.
"At the end of the season everybody will have played.
"It doesn't exist anymore a position where one player can play all the games. The games are too intense, too repeated, and if you look well at the players who play in every single game, look how they are at 30, 31, it tells you a lot about that."
Arsenal's parent holding company yesterday posted another healthy pre-tax profit, returning £36.6million for the year ending May 31, 2012 which was up from the equivalent 2011 figures of £14.8m.
The Gunners, though, could not escape an inevitable increase in wages from £124m to £143m, which represented 60.9% of the club's football revenues.
"Cash and bank balances" stood at £153.6m, slightly down from a year ago, with net debt stable at £98.9m, most of which is tied in with the long-term mortgage following the club's move to the Emirates Stadium.
Chief executive Ivan Gazidis feels this all puts Arsenal in good stead to fulfil UEFA's Financial Fair Play guidelines for clubs to live within their means.
"The important thing to keep emphasising is that we exist, first and foremost, as a football club not a business," Gazidis said on Arsenal Player.
"The reason we talk about the financial results at all is that it provides the platform for us to be successful on the field.
"We are in a good position and we can look forward with confidence that our manager has the funds to drive the club forward and we will continue to be successful in the future."
Gazidis added: "We do have money to spend as and when the manager feels it will push the squad forward, but it is nothing like £150m (cash balance).
"We use those funds throughout the year to pay our expenses, including player wages."
PA
Latest in Sport
Sport blogs
iBet: A tight game between Northampton and Bradford
A tight game could be in prospect here. Northampton have been keeping things very tight of late and ...
by Gareth Purnell
18 May 2013 02:01 AM
On The Road at the Giro d’Italia: Feeling ill and racing in the rain must be pretty grim
I can’t ever watch games of football or rugby without wistfully wondering what it must be like to be...
by Martin Ayres
16 May 2013 05:10 PM
PSG and the French league must be more proactive in dealing with hooliganism
Since PSG’s exit to Barcelona in the Uefa Champions League quarter-final in April, PSG have been sur...
by Matthew Riding
15 May 2013 02:37 PM
-
Tears and cheers as David Beckham ends glittering career after helping PSG to final win
-
England manager Roy Hodgson attacks Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham over tours
-
Video: Emotional David Beckham leaves the pitch for 'the last time'
-
Another nail-biting finish for unlucky Tottenham as Arsenal look to secure Champions League place on last day
-
Boxing: Carl Froch slams fellow Brits for sparring with Mikkel Kessler
- 1 Tears and cheers as David Beckham ends glittering career after helping PSG to final win
- 2 Heading for America? Prepare for the longest US immigration queues ever
- 3 You thought Ryanair's attendants had it bad? Wait 'til you hear about their pilots
- 4 David Cameron goes to war with press over 'swivel-eyed loons' slur
- 5 It’s official: thanks to Stephen Hawking's Israel boycott, anti-Semitism is no more
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Day In a Page
The price of pacifism
Jason Isaacs: Groupies, theatre bores and James Bond
Sealand: 'Micronation' or illegal fortress?
Legend of James Hunt has set Hollywood hearts racing
Macklemore: 'I don't have moderation'
Don't be shy: Bill Granger's Sri Lankan recipes
Gordon Ramsay's worst nightmare: A restaurant he cannot save



Comments