Wenger weighing up Fabregas gamble

18 October 2010 12:31
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has not yet decided whether to gamble on captain Cesc Fabregas for the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk.[LNB] The Gunners skipper has not featured since September 18 after suffering a hamstring problem when scoring at Sunderland as the ball was kicked against his leg before ballooning over the keeper.[LNB]Without their talismanic midfielder, Arsenal lost successive Premier League matches before the international break, although they returned to winning ways against Birmingham at the weekend.[LNB]In Europe, however, Wenger's men maintained their 100% start following a hard-earned 3-1 victory at Partizan Belgrade.[LNB]With Shakhtar - who signed Croatia forward Eduardo from Arsenal in the summer - also having picked up six points, the encounter could all but guarantee one side safe passage into the knockout stage.[LNB]Wenger, though, will give plenty of thought as to whether he should throw Fabregas straight back into the action.[LNB]"Cesc has prepared well. He had a little setback, but got over the hurdle and is ready to play at full fitness, but whether I start him or not, I do not know yet," Wenger said.[LNB]"It will be whether I take a gamble or not, because he has been out for a long time.[LNB]"But physically he is ready and fit - and wanting to play."[LNB]Wenger continued: "You know his influence on our team, he is our leader, our passer, he has a good level of assists and a good goalscoring record.[LNB]"Ideally you want him in the team."[LNB]Shakhtar are yet to concede a goal in Europe and domestically have recorded 15 wins out of 17 games.[LNB]Wenger is certainly not taking the Ukrainians' challenge lightly.[LNB]"In this group until now you had 12 points at stake - six went to Shakhtar, six went to Arsenal. That means what is at stake is the qualifying and also the top of the group, which is why it is a very important game.[LNB]"It is a key game because it gives us an opportunity to basically think we have qualified."[LNB]Wenger added: "Shakhtar are on a good winning run, they are dominating their league, they have just won 3-0 at Braga.[LNB]"We are on our toes. We know that only a great performance tomorrow will win us the game."[LNB]Eduardo ended a three-year stay at Arsenal when he moved to Donetsk during the summer in a £6million deal, having found himself pushed down the pecking order following the free transfer signing of Marouane Chamakh.[LNB]Wenger admits it was somewhat emotional to see the Brazil-born forward leave, the 27-year-old having fought his way back to full fitness following an horrific broken leg and dislocated ankle at Birmingham in February 2008.[LNB]"I will be happy and sad to see Eduardo," said the Arsenal manager.[LNB]"Happy because he was always a fantastic boy with a fantastic mentality, he just had the class of an Arsenal player, and sad because I worked very hard to get him here and he left with the feeling that he could not completely fulfil the promise he had in the first season.[LNB]"That was basically down to the fact he was injured for a long time and somebody else moved in front of him."[LNB]England youngster Jack Wilshere is available despite his red card against Birmingham on Saturday, which will see the 18-year-old midfielder serve a three-match domestic ban.[LNB]Much has been made of the incident, particularly given Wenger's personal crusade against over-the-top challenges.[LNB]The Arsenal manager, though, hopes to now draw a line under the issue.[LNB]"Jack quickly acknowledged that he made a mistake and deserved a red card and what more can you say?" Wenger stressed.[LNB]"When a player comes out and sees his mistake, there is always a good chance to progress and improve.[LNB]"For me, the big players have one common thing together, which is a good assessment of their performance.[LNB]"Sometimes at that age you can think you are always right. It was quite a surprise that so soon after the game he came out like that."[LNB]Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott are also included in the squad as Arsenal's injuries, offensively at least, begin to ease.[LNB]However, Wenger rejected suggestions Holland striker Robin van Persie could be back from an ankle problem to play during the next international break.[LNB]"I think the Dutch coach has a good sense of humour. There is no chance," the Arsenal manager said.

Source: Team_Talk