Arsenal Vs Vorksla: Unai Emery taking the right approach

Unai Emery has named a very young squad for Arsenal’s Europa League trip to Vorskla on Thursday night. He is taking the right approach with Sunday’s North London Derby very much on the horizon.

Arsenal travel to Poltava, er Kiev, on Thursday night to face Vorksla Poltava in the fifth Europa League group stage match. After three wins and a draw in their first four matches, they have already secured qualification into the knockout stages and simply need one win from their final two games to win the group, with the last match coming at the Emirates agaianst FK Qarabag.

Find the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here – Assessing Unai Emery’s first term

Unai Emery, who is a master in this competition, having won it on three successive occasions with Sevilla, has managed his team well thus far, using a blend of first-team players and youth prospects to both ensure victory, provide rest for his Premier League starters, and offer senior opportunities to young talent.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

And on this occasion, Emery is again showing his managerial chops. This match has already been moved to Kiev amid safety concerns with Ukraine voting in martial law in ten of its regions that border Russia. Then on Wednesday, Vorskla stated that they could not guarantee their appearance. And a quick look at the weather forecast today will tell you that it is currently -5°C in Kiev. This is not the type of game that you want to be taking your stars to.

Emery is indeed aware of that. The travelling squad, announced on Wednesday, features some senior players, like Aaron Ramsey, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mohamed Elneny, and plenty of under-18, under-23 and reserve team players, many of which have never made a senior appearance for Arsenal in their careers.

Deyan Iliev will be the reserve goalkeeper, for instance. Charlie Gilmor, Jordi Osei-Tutu and Dominic Thompson will all be present, as will Emile Smith Rowe, Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, all having made the senior leap on more than one occasion over the past year or so.

More crucially, though, Emery has left plenty of star players at home. Bernd Leno, Sokratis, Shkodran Mustafi, Hector Bellerin, Sead Kolasinac, Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka, Alex Iwobi, Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette. None have even made the trip, resting up for Sunday’s North London Derby — you will also notice that I written them out in the order of a starting XI. That a precise XI is currently resting at home, I believe, is not a coincidence on Emery’s part.

With the controversy surrounding the match, the freezing temperatures making injuries more likely if proper warm-ups are not conducted, two critical league matches against Spurs and Manchester United on the horizon, and the fact that Arsenal have already qualified for the knockout stages and can win the group even if they lose here, this is absolutely the right course of action by Emery.

Emery must prioritise games. Never is that more true than during the festive period. Starting with Bournemouth on Sunday, Arsenal play 12 games in 38 days. Rest and rotation will be absolutely key. Emery is playing this absolutely spot on.