It seems rather odd that the manager, after years of never being able to select a settled lineup, is being quizzed on doing just that.

Naming an unchanged lineup for the fourth time against Hull (the first time he’s ever done it four times in a row), Arsene Wenger is benefiting from having the majority of his squad fit and the ability to play a settled lineup.

I’m pretty sure that’s the goal for most sides, but, of course, when Arsenal do it that must surely mean they’re doing something wrong, right?

“I’m ready to change but we had a stability on the tactical front, the confidence was there and I didn’t change recently,” Wenger said.

“I have no problems changing the players because they are all in very good shape, the players who practice.

“Players like Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs for example were not completely there in recent weeks but now they are all there on the competitive front. There’s no problem.

“We feel we have made progress in our consistency, our quality and our stability. That is what we want to continue and I believe it is important to finish as close as possible to Chelsea and come out of the season and think we are ready to challenge next season.

“It is difficult to know how strong every team will be next year but you gain as well your confidence from what you have achieved the year before and how you have moved forward. That is why it is very important that we continue to be consistent until the end of the season.”

I’m pretty sure if the manager was rotating every week just for the sake of it, people would be questioning him and I often wonder if there is anything he can do that wouldn’t see him subjected to ridiculous scrutiny.

“I’m proud of consistency because it’s not easy to produce quality every year, every day,” he continued. “For years we had to do it with less resources than people thought we had.

“People forget about that but we had to sell our best players for years to stay at the top. Today I think we have gone over that hurdle and we can have higher ambitions again but for years it was difficult.”

Yes, Arsene, but why don’t you rotate more? Huh? Huh?