By Bulldog Drummond
Only one place to start the preview series for the Wolverhampton game and that is with injuries; we are virtually top of the list. Danny is of course the latest to go on the list – details from Physioroom as always.
| Who? | What? | Back? | So? | Playing? |
| Welbeck | Ankle Injury | No Date | “Significant right ankle injury. Danny remains in hospital and will continue to be assessed. | No |
| Lichtsteiner | Hamstring | No Date | No | |
| Elneny | Hamstring | Nov 25 | “Expected to return to full training in two weeks.” | No |
| Monreal | Hamstring | Nov 11 | Late Test | |
| Mavropanos | Groin Strain | Nov 25 | “Expected to return to full training in November.” | No |
| Koscielny | Achilles | Nov 25 | “I want to come back when I am fully ready, and I can focus 100% on the game. | No |
All we have returning – if he returns, is Monreal. Elneny’s injury seems to have been pushed back and back, and Lichsteiner is out, as well of course as Danny – which is such a tragedy as he has been looking a much improved player this season.
Weirdly I saw one report call him one of Unai Emery’s most trusted attacking outlets. He’s a player for goodness sake. He is not an “outlet”, the word which for the last few years the media has used for itself. (We prefer “drainpipes”).
But the point is Danny has played in eight of our league games and we have lost none of them, and he has played in a variety of positions. Last night we saw Smith Rowe playing centre forward for part of the game – may he is the replacement.
Now the media, always with a finger on six panic buttons at once, can press PANIC. We are “worryingly short in attack”. But…
We have Aubameyang and Lacazette who can both play or one of them can play with the other coming on as a sub (remember Leicester?) We had Eddie, who for some reason hasn’t had a sniff of a game this season, and we have Smith Rowe.
We might buy a player, yes, but players should not be bought just for the short term, and I am sure with Arsenal, will not be bought, as a short term fix, but to meet a longer term need.
The real problem that Arsenal could face is that if Danny has to be replaced, and given that Ramsey is going, Arsenal are going to be in need of Englishmen, who get a premium price because of the league’s foreign player ruling. This problem is now doubled because no one knows what the regulations will be like on bringing foreign players to the league once the UK gets around the leaving the EU. If we are totally out, then a major door slams shut overnight.
Arsenal did not get much criticism for giving Santi Caz an extra year on his contract even though he was injured, because he was much loved at the club. Will they do that with Danny, and then not list him in the 25? If so I think the media would turn yet again on Arsenal and the tales of incompetence which are spun by the disgruntled and the media together, would spin once again.
Much will depend on what the prognosis is for Danny. If it is an “anywhere from 3 months to a year” type injury then I guess we could buy someone, if Eddie really has not caught the eye of the current management. And it gives the drainpipes (ie outlets) something to prattle about as they deliberately refuse to consider the accusations made against Manchester City.
For Sunday’s game the question is how the management see the Wolverhampton side. Their last ten games look like this…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Comp |
| 16 Sep | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Burnley | W | 1-0 | League |
| 22 Sep | Manchester Utd v Wolverhampton Wanderers | D | 1-1 | League |
| 25 Sep | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Leicester City | L | 0-0 | Lge Cup |
| 29 Sep | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Southampton | W | 2-0 | League |
| 06 Oct | Crystal Palace v Wolverhampton Wanderers | W | 0-1 | League |
| 09 Oct | Mansfield Town v Wolverhampton Wanderers | L | 2-1 | Trophy |
| 20 Oct | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Watford | L | 0-2 | League |
| 27 Oct | Brighton & HA v Wolverhampton Wanderers | L | 1-0 | League |
| 03 Nov | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Tottenham Hots | L | 2-3 | League |
| 06 Nov | Lincoln City v Wolverhampton Wanderers | D | 2-2 | Trophy |
Taking all competitions into account that gives three wins in ten, although to be fair all three are in the league and we’ve got a couple of Trophy games in there. But they have lost of late to Watford, Brighton and Tottenham Hots. So maybe we shouldn’t be panicking just yet.
More on the game tomorrow.
- How Infantino, now head of Fifa, fixed FFP on behalf of PSG and Man City.
- Which clubs inflict the need for treatment on others, the most? The weekend fixtures.
I was happy to see that Santi had sent a message to Danny.
I have seen one report suggesting Danny is out 4 months, and another suggesting it could be career ending. Medical staff have the x-rays now. I think they need to wait a bit for MRI (for swelling to go down).
Another one of those reports, was that we would recall Reiss Nelson. I doubt this is a report at all, just a reasonable supposition.
Get well soon Danny!
OT: Youth FA Cup – Team local to Tony might play Arsenal U18
Nickname is the Cobblers. Sound familiar Tony?
https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/sport/football/cobblers-under-18s-handed-arsenal-incentive-ahead-of-fa-youth-cup-clash-1-8700132
@Bulldog,
Good write up, I am starting to feel bad for Eddie also. He was all set to come on yesterday, and then Lichtsteiner goes down forcing Emery to switch in AMN instead.
Tough break yesterday with 2 injuries
Wolves losing their last 3 League games in a row could be from where problem in the match could come for Arsenal in their match against them on Sunday I would think. This is so because Wolves will not want to lose 4 League games in a row but get at least a draw in their next match against Arsenal to stop to rot.
Therefore, Arsenal should take time to train positively to beat Wolves and avoid drawing their last 3 games in a row in the PL which will result for them dropping 6 points from the 9 points on offer for collection. This will be poor if it ends up that way. But if they beat Wolves, they will then have collected 5 points out of 9 which is fair but not a PL title win points collection job.
With the 2 consecutive draw games that Arsenal have played in their last 2 games in the PL as a reference point for improving on the results with a win in their next game, Emery has looked to have start pampering the Gunners in training sessions which has resulted to the Gunners playing lackadaisically in their matches away to Crystal Palace and to some extend at home against Liverpool too securing only 2 points out 6. Henceforth, I will advice Emery to start drilling the Gunners very hard in training sessions so that they will regain their lost game winning mentality starting from their match against Wolves. The Gunners have of late appeared to have dropped in sustained intensity playing over a long period in their match against Crystal Palace to thus give the Eagles the chance to come at them regularly in their game forcing Arsenal to a draw game.
Against Wolves, the Gunners must not only attack them in a sustained intensity play in the game over a long period to weaken them, but must equally be very tenacious in attacking them for a long period of time in the game forcing them to be conceding goals to Arsenal which they will not have conceded if Arsenal were to attack them without sustained intensity and tenacity over a long period of time in the match.
A potential problem in playing Wolves, is that if PGMO is cooking how they do games, Wolves are one of the teams that they want to appear to have few reasons for referees to apply caution. Hence, a greater chance that the referee will let lots of fouls that should be a yellow to Wolves, not be issued a card. Which is a wonderful environment to get injured in. And I really don’t think we want any more injuries at the moment.
In the short term Eddie will almost certainly be on th e bench as backup to Lava and Auba. He will also be fully included in first team training. I would expect him to get game time as and when game situations permit.
It was interesting to see that Bramall played the entirety of the U21 Chekatrade trophy match at left back and produced the cross at the end for our third goal. I would still like to believe that he can produce the kind of performance that will enable him to step up to first team level (although I feel this is still something of a lond shot).
Should be a good crowd for Wolves tomorrow, my sear sold quickly on ticket exchange.