“For Manu it is his knee. He is not running properly at the moment. He still has pain there.” A. Wenger

So can anyone give me one good reason why any manager would think it a good idea to have a player like that (Eboue) on the bench, and for seemingly no reason at all bring him on with the game still to be won? Did anybody notice how he completely pulled out of the first challenge?

Why on earth do managers, even ones as bright as Wenger, persist in utterly pointless substitutions? You know the scene. There’s about five minutes to go and all of a sudden it becomes imperative to get one player off and put another one on. Are we to assume that some players can only last 85 minutes and you really need to get them off for the last five? Fresh legs? I suppose so, but how can you possibly pick up the pace of the game in that little time? The five or so minutes Alexander Song spent on the pitch were an utter waste of time. It was quite clear he had no idea what his role should be. He made a couple of half-hearted challenges in the air, which he lost on both occasions, and for what? Completely and utterly pointless. It was hardly his fault, but why bother in the first place? If you’re two goals up and it ain’t broke, why try and fix it? The message should always be, ‘You see the game through to the bitter end and get the result at all cost.’ Surely! What could be more obvious?

Wenger’s always done this. Can you remember a few seasons back, he would bring Pascal Cygan on for the last few minutes, and we’d all sit there, having kittens, and wonder what good having a third choice centre half standing around on the left side of midfield would do. Utterly bizarre. Apart from anything else, it unconsciously informs the team that the game is as good as over, and just to prove the point, ‘I’m bringing someone on who I don’t think is quite good enough for the starting line up.’ Is the thinking that another defensive player on the pitch is automatically going to make the team a stronger unit, even if all they do is wander round like a little lost dog? Is it completely imperative that a player gets five minutes off, so that he can be bright eyed and bushy tailed for the following week?

Is there anyone out there old enough to remember the 1979 Cup Final? Terry Neill was equally stupid. Half way through the second half, with the game won, he took off David Price, who didn’t seem injured or particularly tired, and replaced him with a left footed centre half (Steve Walford). If you don’t know what happened next get the video out. A sentimental gesture? Keeping squad players involved and motivated? Bollocks! Win the game and then we can discuss all the other options later. I wish these substitutions made sense. Does it run down the clock? If that was important then why didn’t the players follow suit and keep possession down in the corner, which they studiously didn’t? Instead they gave the ball away cheaply to Gomes, who then had the chance to get the ball up the other end. How could everybody be so bleedin’ stupid?

It’s not making mistakes that’s important. We all do. The problem is Arsenal make the same mistakes over and over again. In any other line of work you’d be out of a job, not enjoying a huge wage packet and the total loyalty of the management.

Planet Football, eh? Nice work if you can get it.