Yesterday morning I saw that the club had released news about the team a wee bit earlier than normal – on Wednesday evening I believe – obviously because Arsène was doing a bit of work on the Thirsday; probably learning how to unzip his coat properly now that the Spring weather is upon us.

But there was one thing that he said that made me wonder if he was going to do a lot of rotation this weekend. He said that the last few matches have been very physical and that fatigue – possibly leading to injuries – was a very real consideration for him and that he would need to make a decision on his squad today (Friday). 

It was an interesting choice of words because I don’t think I’ve observed him talking so openly about rotation in that manner. He loves a bit of underlying messaging, does our Arsène, but this was fairly obvious that he’s going to mix it up a bit this weekend.

And who can blame him? I think he’s amassed a squad of players that are all very good and he feels like he has the talent even in at 15th, 16th or 17th choice in the squad, so rotating to keep players competitive whilst also retaining the freshness of the players will work wonders for us. We hope.

I hope the hacks ask him decent questions at his pre-match presser, not just those which a trained monkey could regurgitate answers too if you worked hard enough with said mammal. Questions that will probe on how much he might potentially rotate, what is the approach to another physical game against West Ham, etc. 

We shall see soon enough.

Personally, I hope to see Rosicky getting a shout. He’s been good whenever he plays and in the last couple of games it feels like he’s been somewhat of a forgotten man. Hard to believe given that whenever he’s played he’s been one of the best players on the park. But when you’re at the age he is then you’re always going to be managed closely and Le Boss looks to be using him in the same way in which he did Benayoun a few seasons back.

That’s pretty much it from me today. I be a tired boy on this Friday, so I think I’ll call it quits and see if I can Powernap my way to Finchley Road on this Met line train.

Cheerio.