By Boris Mellor
January 27 2006

Arsene seems to be suggesting that he is not prepared to put out his best 11 for the cup. To be fair he has not got a lot of choice the list of missing is endless.

No doubt the squad is not as strong as it should be but nobody could have expected so many injuries in key positions. Indeed Wenger has been forced to take Campbell to Bolton, in spite of the fact he would have preferred to rest him.

Arsenal has 10 players out - Lauren (hamstring), Thierry Henry (hamstring), Gilberto (calf), Ashley Cole (thigh), Gael Clichy (foot), Pascal Cygan (hamstring), Cesc Fabregas (suspended), Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor (all African Nations Cup). In addition Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp are rested.

I can’t watch the ACN anymore – it just makes me too angry – injuries are just bad luck – but organising a tournament at the most important time of the league season just beggars belief. One thing Kolo’s absence shows is that he is the key defender at Highbury not Campbell, and that has been my belief for over a year. We had 5 clean sheets in a row, even with Cygan playing; it didn’t change until Kolo was stopped from playing by the Ivory Coast. Since then we have conceded in the last 3 games.

Bolton might beat us tomorrow, but lets not buy too deeply into the bogey team crap. We knocked them out of the cup last year, and we beat them the year we won league at Old Trafford. We also have lost to them with Paddy playing. But it’s not bogeys that beat us, just shit defending. Nor did they bully us in the last game, they just wanted it more than Arsenal did.

It’s not consistency that’s needed, we are consistently rubbish away from home, it’s a bit of oomph, defending and attacking as a team, and getting to the ball first that is needed.