No Going Back:Odegaard decision as Arteta leaves five players out of Arsenal squad vs West Ham including Thomas Partey

A key feature for Arsenal in their Carabao Cup third round win over Brentford in September was the number of youngsters called up by Mikel Arteta.

At the Gtech Community Stadium, the Gunners boss handed a competitive debut to Charles Sagoe Jr. Meanwhile, Reuell Walters and Amario Cozier-Duberry were back in a senior matchday squad and it was a first experience for James Sweet as they were all unused substitutes.

Keeping in line with how the north London outfit have historically used the early stages of the competition - blooding a few promising youngsters - it remains to be seen if this will be Arteta's approach in tonight's (Wednesday) fourth-round clash against West Ham United especially as there is the incentive to name a strong team.

Speaking ahead of the cup tie, the Arsenal manager did hint at more squad rotation - having rested Gabriel Magalhaes and Martin Odegaard against Sheffield United at the weekend, but stressed the importance of the Carabao Cup and the impact winning the competition could have.

"I do, and as well because even if you are doing rotations I think the role of the players that are now committed to challenge for this trophy or for this game," he said in the pre-match press conference. "I think its critical for them to show what they can do and when they are really important when they are getting a chance when you are in or out, how you are going to approach that game and are you going to win the game for the team?

"And I think if you’re going to grow as a team and you don’t have that mindset it is very difficult so the mindset of every three days being able to do it in a different way and different context, when you have a big game next week or when you just played in Champions League or another big game here it’s okay what’s the behaviour and how the team responds to that I think is very important."As a result of calling up the aforementioned youngsters against Brentford, Arteta was able to rest William Saliba, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka completely, whilst Thomas Partey, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli were unavailable for selection because of injury.

Admittedly, the situation has changed going into the West Ham tie: "The context is a bit different because we've picked up some injuries and we don't have so much availability in terms of the squad," the Spaniard added. "But we prepare the game the same way we did there and try to win it."

Permitted to name a 20-man matchday squad for the Carabao Cup clash, Arteta appears to have 22 of his 25 senior stars - as listed on the club's official website - available for selection with Partey, Gabriel Jesus and Jurrien Timber set to be three of the five players not making the short trip to the London Stadium.

Another absentee is likely to come from the three senior goalkeepers - Aaron Ramsdale, David Raya and Karl Hein - whilst Odegaard may not be risked as football.london understands the Arsenal captain is dealing with a hip injury that saw him sit out the win over Sheffield United last time out.

"We rested him the other day and now it is about how long we rest him and how we manage now the minutes and the rhythm he needs to be at his best," Arteta told reporters. "We had the opportunity to do it, we didn't use him in the end so that was a good offload for him."

So for multiple Arsenal youngsters to be involved in a Carabao Cup tie once again, it would require some senior players dropping out of the squad from the Sheffield United game altogether. And if Tuesday's training session is any indication, Jimi Gower, Bradley Ibrahim, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri might be in contention against West Ham.

Post a Comment

0 Comments