Arsenal coach makes selection plea - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Arsenal coach makes selection plea

30/01/2003 05:33:34 AM Comments (0)

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has called for some of his players to be left out of the England side to play Australia next month.

Wenger appealed to England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson to consider the physical demands on his men before naming his squad for the friendly match.

Senior Football Association officials have guaranteed Eriksson will be able to call on a full squad after he cancelled an earlier friendly as a concession to the Premier League clubs.

Arsenal and Manchester United players are expected to dominate the England squad, to be named on February 8.

The friendly will be played on February 12. On February 15, Arsenal and Manchester United play each other in the fifth round of the FA Cup, then continue their Champions League campaigns in Europe on February 18.

"Obviously it's Sven's choice and he will want to pick his best squad," Wenger told London newspaper the Evening Standard.

"I cannot expect him to leave out all his best players. You cannot expect him to leave out the Arsenal players and not the Manchester United players, or leave out the United players but not those from Arsenal.

"They all face a physically demanding time in the coming weeks and all you hope is that he uses commonsense when picking his squad."

Arsenal is likely to contribute David Seaman, Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell to the squad, alongside five Manchester United players - England captain David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Rio Ferdinand.

The fixture congestion will affect Leeds United - home to Socceroos Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Paul Okon - to a lesser extent as it is not in the Champions League and has yet to win through to the FA Cup fifth round.

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