Arsenal Boss Defends Weakened Team Vs Southampton : Iwobi Is A Regular Player

Published: December 01, 2016

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has defended his selection in his team’s surprise 2-0 loss to Southampton in the quarterfinals of the League Cup on Wednesday night, a defeat that ended their 19-game unbeaten run.

Having made ten changes to the side that started against Bournemouth last weekend, the Frenchman rejected talk that he fielded a weakened team, stressing that he had several established players in the squad who did not show urgency during the game.

“When you look at the team we played, in midfield we had Coquelin, Ramsey, Elneny, afterwards Xhaka. Up front we had Lucas, Giroud was injured, ” Wenger told arsenal.com.

“We had Iwobi, who is a regular player in the first team. I don’t think the problem was there - we had players who are used to top-level competition but I think we maybe didn’t have the right urgency from the start on.”

Iwobi lasted the distance against Southampton and his best opportunity to reduce the deficit was in the 83rd minute.

Igho Kingsley

Photo Credit : arsenal.com