Tim Collings' Arsenal Analysis: Selection to blame for FA Cup upset

Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 by Goal.com

Sol Campbell tasted FA Cup defeat against
Stoke on his second Arsenal debut

Memo to Arsene Wenger: when Arsenal play away to a fellow Premier League team in the fourth round of the FA Cup, it is a first team fixture. And it is important.

Further memo to Wenger: just because he is a popular player, and it makes a good story, it is hardly fair on Sol Campbell to select him for his second Gunners' debut in a fixture like Sunday's clash - and 3-1 defeat - at Stoke City.

Third memo to the Arsenal boss: beware of PR campaigns that have the potential to backfire - not every referee will prefer to protect the pretty boys against the Bash Street Kids...sometimes, we just have to get stuck in.

Finally, memos to self... beware drawing hasty conclusions - and never under-estimate the judgement of Professor Vesuvius or the talent on the London Colney conveyer belt - but judge by results.

And, PS: Stoke are not really the Bash Street Kids or Wimbledon reincarnated. (They play in red and white stripes). Plus PPS: Whatever happened to Theo Walcott, who used to play for England?

So back to the real questions...Would Chelsea have picked such an inexperienced line-up - with eight or nine changes from the side that defeated Bolton Wanderers in London on Wednesday - for such a physically challenging aerial battle of a fixture?

The answer, based on Saturday's team at Preston North End, is no; but then Chelsea have neither the same youthful talent in reserve nor do they face as tough a programme in their next four Premier League fixtures.

That said, Chelsea are the only club from the established 'big four' through to the fifth round of the FA Cup. So a great chance of cup glory is gone.

In the end, you have to accept that Wenger picked a team that he believed was truly strong enough to win this fixture (while at the same time protecting his top players for the challenges ahead - until the last half-hour, that is, when he threw caution aside) with the quality of their football.

The defeat, however, will hurt. Not just physically, but emotionally and mentally. And some of the beaten boys may have learned little from it...

It was obvious from the body language of the players that they wanted to add to Wenger's haul of four FA Cup triumphs with Arsenal and extend their unbeaten run to 10 games after seven wins and two draws. It takes time to build up a winning momentum and the players know, as Wenger does, that the fans are desperate to win a first trophy in five years.

Now, after this elimination, they have only the Premier League and the Champions League to focus on - and many critics will feel justified in saying that Wenger sacrificed their best hopes of a trophy (in this competition) to pursue more difficult targets.

And Sol? Based on the first 240 seconds of his return to Arsenal action for the first time since the 2006 European Cup final in Paris, and picked alongside another rusty veteran in Mikael Silvestre, he looked utterly lost, his faulty positioning playing a part in the 'long throw' opening goal after 70 seconds, headed in by a stooping Ricardo Fuller as 'flapper' Fabianski waited for an easy 'midriff fielding' routine.

For the rest, however, he looked increasingly like the Campbell of old (very old, pre-Pompey days) and also looked reasonably fit and assured - until 11 minutes from time. A couple of well-timed last-ditch tackles proved that. His experience seemed to assist the boys around him, too. But then Fuller out-jumped him to score with a superb header from Mamady Sidibe's beautifully-measured cross and Stoke took a 2-1 lead.

So, should Sol have played? Ahem, well, that depends on how much you value the FA Cup, Mr Wenger. Actually, one has to admit, Sol seemed to enjoy it for most of the afternoon - and the big man could hardly be blamed exclusively for either goal. Where did Denilson go, for example, when Sidibe ran clear on the right flank?

If, essentially, you pick a reserves team bolstered by two or three senior men, you always run these risks.

What, then, about the referee and his protection of the Arsenal technicians at work? Both teams were committed, it was a contrast of styles, as expected, and with so many fouls and stoppages, from both teams, the jury will need to stay out for a more considered study of the statistics...

What must be said, however, is that by raising the issue ahead of this game, Wenger gave Stoke - once memorably described by La Gazetta dello Sport as a team that plays "Flintstones football" - all the motivation they needed. He also fired up their fans, who were already desperate for an FA Cup triumph over their more aristocratic visitors.

And Walcott? Perhaps, for now, it is a case of 'least said, soonest mended' as he works on his comeback in an injury-hit season. Certainly, he was not able to make a major contribution in this defeat, a result that will be a big disappointment for Arsenal, but hardly a catastrophe if they can survive the next few weeks unbeaten, or better, to stay in the title race.

That signals no more rotation and resting, on this scale, and a serious examination of the squad's real quality and strength. If Wenger's men can go on and claim a trophy, this defeat will be accepted and forgotten. But if not, more memos will be sent and more questions asked...