Wenger bungled Saturday because he wears too many hats.
He does it all himself. He refuses to delegate, refuses to be contradicted.
Wenger should have picked his strongest team against Chelsea but he lost the plot. He got lost in his abundant fitness data, his tight and worrying accounts, his crammed calendar.
Even a polymath can’t do all the jobs Wenger tries to do. He has nobody to talk to, so he’s bound to score big own-goals from time to time.
Following two phone calls late on Sunday night, I decided to scrap everything I was going to write today, and write this on Monday at 7 a.m.
But, having crashed out at 1.00 a.m. after the second phone call, I didn’t wake up till 8.30 a.m.
Crucially, Wenger wants to finish third.
His planning is based on his huge desire to finish third. If Arsenal finish third they go straight into the Champions League Group Stage.
If they are fourth, he fears a bananaskin in the Qualifying Round which he has always negotiated in the past.
Bayern Munich might finish third and he doesn’t want to play them in a qualifying round. He might get Atletico Madrid or Shakhtar Donetsk or Ajax or Feyonoord, who could put Arsenal out.
That is Wenger’s biggest fear. A strategist who juggles too many balls and wears too many hats, he is terrified by the prospect of losing that key contest in what is virtually pre-season. That would devastate the morale of his players and cost Arsenal £25 million plus. It would cripple Arsenal financially and psychologically.
Therefore Anfield is a massive game.
It was always a huge game for him.
And, having lost the FA Cup semi 2-1 to Chelsea, it’s even bigger than it was.
Unfortunately, his players are shattered. Fabianski is devastated and not talking calls on his mobiles. Before the semi Toure and Silvestre were talking about winning two cups and writing their names in the history of the club. After losing, they were shattered, deeply depressed.
The good news is that Sagna and Almunia could be fit.
Sagna was pulled from Villarreal by the doctor after his temperature spiked on the day of the game. A virus.
Liverpool haven’t played since the 4-4 battle at the Bridge, which left them in pieces. But they’ve had a week to prepare for the visit of Arsenal.
Previously, I thought the Liverpool game was unimportant because I believed 4th place was similar to 3rd place and 4th was almost assured because Martin O’Neill keeps throwing away points by making stupidly negative substitutions. And because Everton will now concentrate on the FA Cup Final, where they have a good chance of grinding out an FA Cup Final win on May 30 against Chelsea, who may have peaked at the Champions League final on Wednesday May 27.
This year, for some reason, the FA Cup Final is AFTER the European Cup Final.
Normally, the FA Cup final is on the Saturday before .
Now it’s 10.00 a.m. and time for Myles’s breakfast.