By Boris Mellor
December 19 2006

Not so much a team, more a gathering of the generations. A strange mix of experience and callow youth. My initial reaction is that this is an odd bunch that can hardly be expected to form a coherent team. They hardly know each other, yet alone where they will be on the pitch.

Only one of them is a proven goal scorer in this competition, and I am not so sure about him. If Liverpool play a half decent team then I can’t see the Gunners winning.

 

On the bright side it’s a chance for Rosicky and Lauren to get match fit, and for the Beast and Walcott to prove they can do it at the top level. For many of the rest, unless we win, obscurity and hanging around in the stiffs awaits.

 

Pessimistic yes, but it will be great to be proved wrong. Imagine it’s the day that Walcott finally hits the net at the top level, that Baptista proves he is a Beast, and Aliadiere, now 23,  finally proves that his potential at age 19 was not just a flash in the pan.

 

It all rather depends how strong the Liverpool team is, but they rarely lose at home in this their most successful trophy of late.

 

Footnote: This is not a complaint about Wenger’s selection, what else can he do? He needs to save his strongest team for the four games over Xmas. The fixture list is ridiculous, yes it’s the same for Liverpool, but this could have been a big match.

 

Don’t forget to enter your prediction.

 

Squad in full

 

Kolo Toure

Philippe Senderos

Tomas Rosicky

Julio Baptista
Lauren
Denilson
Alexandre Song
Mart Poom
Manuel Almunia
Jeremie Aliadiere
Justin Hoyte
Theo Walcott
Armand Traore
Joseph O’Cearuill
Fran Merida
Mark Randall