By Tony Attwood
- Planning is important in football, but not everyone does it very well
- Arsenal’s secret that has taken the rest of the league by surprise
A combination of player injuries and incidents seems to have hit Arsenal, causing a significant amount of concern in relation to player availability for forthcoming Arsenal matches. The culprits are, of course, these wretched internationals, where players get injured, and countries continue to refuse even to cover player wages during the time of their injuries.
In one tiny sparkle of light in what has become a very dark situation, the club’s next match is an FA Cup game against a Championship side who are sixth in the league and 17 points behind the league leaders. And so Arsenal will certainly be putting out a very weakened team. It’s a shame because it could mean Arsenal could lose, and I was hoping for the club’s fourth “double” this season. Worse, however, this mass collection of new injuries looks like very bad news for the attempt to win the League and the Champions League together.
Premier League Injuries is now showing no fewer than 11 Arsenal players out, even worse than the nine recorded for Tottenham. And in many ways, this is a self-inflicted set of wounds by the players who have insisted on playing for their countries, despite knowing the dangers this can involve.
So here’s the latest…
Mikel Merino we know abut and he won’t play again this season. That’s the end for him – there is no chance of recovery in time.
Eberechi Eze has a leg injury, and the club can’t even say how long he will be out for without another scan, which he can’t have for another “six or seven days”. It seems unlikely that he will be back in April.
Martin Odegaard we know about, and the real worry is that if he accelerates his recovery campaign, he might actually get back into his country’s squad, which could mean that he could be injured again, and so still not be able to play for Arsenal. If he puts the club first, however, we might just see him back by the middle of the month.
William Saliba has an ankle and foot injury, which is currently being assessed.
Gabriel dos Santos Magalhaes to give him his full title, is also being assessed concerning a knee injury. Knee injuries can be particularly problematic because of the pain felt, but if all is well, he might be available in about a week, but that’s still only rated as a 75% chance.
Moving away from the knees, Leandro Trossard is reported to have a hip injury, and no one seems to be sure how long recovery might take. It might just be a few days, or it might be quite a bit longer. It is reported that he is 50/50 for a recovery during the coming week.
Bukayo Saka is reported to be in significant discomfort, and the England medical team at least had the decency to agree that the risk of playing him was too great. So he returned to Arsenal in the hope that he might somehow recover in time to help Arsenal go on and win the title.
Also currently being assessed is Declan Rice, who like Saka, is reported to have been playing through discomfort, so England have finally sent him back to his club with the traditional international message, “have him ready for the next game”.
Martin Zubermendi withdrew from the Spanish team a couple of days ago after complaining of problems with his knee. There are no reports of how long he will be out of action for, although I suspect that, as is normal in these circumstances, he will be available for the country’s next game, but quite possibly not for Arsenal.
Piero Hincapie Reyna: his country (Ecuador) has reported that he has undergone a medical evaluation with imaging tests and has withdrawn from the squad. The details of the findings have gone to Arsenal, and they have started a recovery process.
Chukwunonso Madueke has a knee injury, having been caught out in a game against Uruguay, who are known for not holding back even in friendlies. There is no news on how long he will be out, nor his return date, but such information as is being circulated suggests that things are not looking that good.
Of course, the big worry in all these cases is that the medical teams, either in the players’ home countries or in London, will patch the player up ready to play for his country, even if he is not fully recovered.
But certainly on the basis of this terrible collection of injuries, it looks like Southampton are going to get a boost for the next round of the cup at the weekend.
More seriously for Arsenal, they only have seven days to get a team together for the game away to Sporting in the Champions League.
And you may have noticed that Sporting CP, who Arsenal play in the Champions League, beat PSG 2-1 in January. So these injuries for Arsenal are all coming at exactly the wrong time.
If ever there was a case to ask players who the club are looking to buy, “Are you determined to play for your country whenever they call on you, no matter what?” and then only buy those who say “no,” this is surely it. It is too early to say if it will happen, but our season could be unravelled by injuries sustained when players are pl
The thing is Tony, the main stream media and in their waye many high profiles bloggs areagain calling Arsenal ‘cheats’ claimingb a majority of the injuries ar fake.
Agbonglahor has said rules should be changed, yes that old chestnut, and Arsenal punished and “Arsenal players ‘should be banned’ as Premier League action demanded”
Our old fried Durham at Talkshite is claiming we are cheating and it’s because we are panicking after the LC final
Our ally at TFT has called them all out for the hypocrites they are by finding multiple historical events of similar withdrawals, citing his own Man Utd of being as guilty as anyone in the past. As he says, ‘Just arsenal bashing again’!!!
How about recalling Nwaneri from Marseille?