Wenger sticks with young guns for Carling Cup final
Arsène Wenger has confirmed that he will be sticking with the young gunners in Sunday’s Carling Cup final against Chelsea, ruling out the likes of William Gallas, Thierry Henry, Freddie Ljungberg and Jens Lehmann from the lineup.
In the past, I have questioned the value of the Carling Cup as a competition. But this year I can certainly see the benefit of the competition as a staging ground for young talent. For Arsenal, it has given the younger players some much needed experience in big game settings, and has allowed new players, like Julio Baptista, the opportunity to ease into the lineup.
Baptista is a certain for starting the cup final. ‘The Beast’ has scored 6 goals in the Carling Cup run. Jeremie Aliadiere is also another strong contender for starting up front, with 4 strikes in the competition. Wenger has also said that he would like to play Theo Walcott. Whether Wenger will start Walcott or Adebayor remains to be seen, but I suspect he might go with Walcott and hold Adebayor back a bit. Arsenal is in the thick of all 4 major competitions (Carling, FA Cup, EPL and Chapmions) and Wenger needs to keep his key players healthy to avoid burnout or potential injury. Over this season, you have to think that Adebayor has moved into one of those key player roles.
All signs from Chelsea show they will be sending out a strong lineup, but Arsenal will be buoyed by the fact that Chelsea will be without key defender John Terry, who picked up an ankle injury against Porto midweek during Chelsea’s Champions League match. Look for Michael Essien to fill in at central defence.
