By Peter Fairchild
Arsene Wenger has insisted Wojciech Szczesny and Thomas Vermaelen must earn recalls to the Arsenal side after being dropped for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.
As exclusively revealed by Goal.com on Friday, Szczesny will also miss out against Swansea on Saturday with Lukasz Fabianski set to keep his place following an impressive display against die Roten.
“All the players are in the same position,” Wenger told reporters. “Nobody’s guaranteed places in the team.
“Be a competitor. It is part of it. Fight for it. He has top quality, Fabianski. He has gone through difficult times but he faced it, handled it and he did something about it.
“He lacked a bit confidence, he suffered a bit under pressure but let’s not forget that to mature helps as well.”
Wenger also insists that Vermaelen is not an instant selection due to being club captain, although he remains a key part of the Gunners’ first-team plans.
The Frenchman continued: “Being a captain shouldn’t guarantee you a place in any game.
“For purely sporting reasons, or tactical reasons in the game, when you don’t think it is the right selection, do you put the player in just as he is captain?
“That is disrespectful to the guy who doesn’t play.
“Vermaelen has played many games in many positions and is a very important player in our squad.
“But they know there might be rotation with the three centre-backs – Vermaelen, [Laurent] Koscielny and [Per] Mertesacker. You have to accept that.”
