Don't Miss

Wenger confirms this player will keep his place after PSG display

By mac14 on September 14, 2016

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that David Ospina will keep his place as Arsenal’s first choice goalkeeper in the Champions League following his excellent display against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.

Ospina was surprisingly selected to start between the sticks for our most difficult group stage game last night as he lined-up at the Parc des Princes with usual No.1 Petr Cech among the substitutes.

Fans were initially outraged that Wenger had made such a risky decision away to the French champions – especially as it brought back memories of Ospina’s howler against Olympiakos last season.

The Colombian dropped a clanger which gifted the Greek side a win at the Emirates in the group stages last season which ultimately saw us finish second in the group resulting in another annual exit to Barcelona in the last 16.

As we have a decent chance of topping the group this time around, supporters were confussed as to why Wenger started Ospina last night but he responded by putting in a Man of the Match performance to earn us a valuable 1-1 draw.

Speaking after the game last night, Arsene confirmed that he has an agreement with the goalkeepers that Cech will play in the league and Ospina in Europe, meaning the Colombian will retain his place against Basel in two weeks time.

Wenger is quoted as saying by the Mirror:

“Tonight he showed his detractors, those who doubted him, that he is a very good goalkeeper.

“Last year he made a mistake in the Champions League and everyone jumped all over him. He showed what he’s about tonight.

“We have a rule that the keepers know. It’s important to have clear rules like that. They know what the rules are for the season. If they change, I’ll tell them.”

“It’s down to performances. On what he delivered tonight, he has the right to stay in the team for the next Champions League game (at home to Basel in a fortnight).”

Usually the No.2 keeper would play in the League Cup and maybe even the FA Cup, but I have my concerns over playing Ospina throughout the Champions League this season – despite his performance last night.

The Champions League isn’t just any mickey mouse cup, it’s the pinnacle of European competition so I’m not sure why Wenger has decided to play our back-up keeper over Cech. I can only hope the agreement is that Ospina will play in the group stages and then Cech will come back for the knockout rounds.

And how must Cech be feeling about this agreement? Surely a goalkeeper of his caliber wants to be playing in the Champions League at his age? So he can’t be happy sitting on the bench on these big European nights.

Let’s be honest, Ospina had a great game last night but he could just of easily had a mare and we’d all be slamming Wenger. Ospina has always had a few mistakes in him, hence why Wenger jumped at the chance to sign Cech and demote Ospina to No.2, so I’m not convinced it’s the right call to play him in Europe.