Arsene Wenger

Published: 2 April, 2015
by STEVE BARNETT

ARSENE Wenger has revealed there are as many as three places still up for grabs in the Gunners’ starting XI against Liverpool this Saturday. 

The Arsenal manager has shared the thought processes behind how he selects his team on match days.

Wenger, who has taken charge of 1,056 matches since he was appointed in September 1996, says he thinks about his line-up in advance.

But he normally waits until the day of the game to announce it to his players and fill in the missing starting berths. 

“I always have eight or nine players of my team in my head the day before the game, but there’s always a doubt on one or two,” the Frenchman told the official Arsenal Magazine. 

“You try to make it as scientific as much as you can, but it’s intuitive as well because you have to think if the balance of the team is right or if one player was a bit better in the last training session. 

“Has one player got a bit of a cold, maybe? 

“When two players are together in your mind, competing for one position, every single detail can go for one of them – experience, confidence under pressure – everything can make a difference. 

“I always have a final chat with the medical people to make my mind up and make sure that everybody is all right.

“I do that on the morning of every game. Then I make my decision.

“You never go to bed without thinking about what the next line-up will be,” Wenger added. “You live with that always. That can create uncertainties, because you think about it every day. 

“If you don’t know your team on Friday night, you will not know on Saturday morning so you have to decide in your head early, and go for it.”