Did Arsene Wenger Get It Wrong?

(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Arshavin chose one of football's biggest stages—the Kop—to show Arsenal exactly what it missed on Saturday in its FA Cup semifinal against Chelsea, when he was puzzlingly left on the bench by Wenger.

Four goals in a game—the best goal-scoring performance by an Arsenal player since Julio Baptista in an inferior Carling Cup game way back in 2007—ensured that Arshavin went a long way to re-paying his 15 million pound transfer fee.

Alas, Arsenal were without a defence, and had to settle for a draw, with Liverpool scoring the equalizer with two minutes of injury time to go.

So was it worth it?

Sacrificing the FA Cup semifinal for the sake of keeping Arsenal's unbeaten run in the league going, and perhaps maintaining enough momentum to overhaul Chelsea for third place?

In my opinion, a resounding no.

Say what you will, but silverware is silverware. By not fielding his strongest side on Saturday, Arsene threw away Arsenal's best chance at silverware this year, especially since Everton later beat Manchester United in the second semifinal.

I actually thought Arshavin might have been slightly injured on Saturday. But judging from tonight's performance, that is clearly not the case.

With Arshavin cup-tied for the Champions League, and Barcelona in ominous form, the Champions League campaign seems destined to end in tears.

There are some who say Arsene's main goal is third place, to avoid a tricky Champions League qualifying tie in August. Well, the difference between tonight's draw and a loss is only one point.

On the other hand, the difference on Saturday was the difference between potentially ending the year with a trophy, or "good effort, boys, we'll try again next year."

As an Arsenal fan, I am tired of trying again next year. 

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