Arsene Wenger did not know what starting XI he was going to field when he turned up at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday as there was uncertainty in his mind about the body-condition of his players.
Arsenal had had a top-flight game on the New Year day as well and then after merely 50 hours or so, they found themselves going into a game again and to make the scenario worse, it was an away game.
It put Wenger in a state of indecision. He had no idea how big a risk it would be to insert those players who already had 90 minutes on Sunday, how many of them could get through it for the second time in two days.
It’s only after he saw the team go through the pre-match drills that he made the mind whom he could go with again.
Wenger left the likes of Chamberlain and Paulista in the wings as he feared he would be forcing them to injuries by putting them out there for any bit of time. A couple of other guys were unfit anyway.
So, it was more or less a weakened Arsenal side that was assembled on paper eventually and in the match, it looked like as if they would fall short of the hosts Bournemouth who ruthlessly slapped three goals on them.
However, a late resurrection from the men in red and white brought matters on level terms and the match finished three-all.
Wenger’s mood though was not the greatest as he appeared for the after-game question-answer session with the media.
According to Wenger, if the opposition that he had to confront also had as small a recovery time as his team had, he would be fine, but, that was not the case. The opposition was coming after sufficient rest, while his team wasn’t which was a little bit of injustice with them.