Wenger - I'll rest players if we qualify early
Slavia Prague v Arsenal
Champions League Group Stage
Evzena Rosickeho Stadium
Wed, Nov 7, 2007, 7.45pm
By Richard Clarke
Arsène Wenger wants to qualify for the Champions League Knockout Stage as soon as possible so he can rest players during a hectic December.
The Arsenal manager takes his side to Prague today ahead of Wednesday’s match against Slavia. A draw will be enough to put them through. Anything like the 7-0 win against the Czech side on Matchday Three and, barring a collapse when they visit Sevilla, they will have won Group H.
That trip to Spain comes at the start of a heavy period leading up to Christmas and New Year. Arsenal are set to play 13 games in the six weeks between Wigan’s visit to Emirates Stadium on November 24 and the FA Cup Third Round tie on the first weekend in January.
Recent draws at Liverpool and against Manchester United suggest Wenger’s side have real title-winning potential. If Arsenal do win on Wednesday, the shrewd Frenchman may look to shuffle his squad in the build-up to the festive period.
"We want to qualify as quickly as possible and we can achieve that at Slavia Prague,” he said.
“By qualifying as early as possible we can rest players later on and it will help us in the Premier League.
"At the moment I have not rotated too much because, after we had started well, I did not want to take that chance. I wanted to give consistency and belief to the side.
“However, now we are in November, I will have to rotate a bit more because the first signs of fatigue could turn up.
"It is not because of the quality of the players, but sometimes a team loses a bit of certainty about the way they play and their results.
“Our major target [in this game] is not to be complacent. The players may think we just need to turn up and take the points, but on the other side Slavia will really have a huge desire to show that the result at Emirates Stadium was an accident.”
[ Tuesday, November 06, 2007]
