Early team news ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League opener reveals that Tomas Rosicky will miss the return to his former club.
The Czech international missed Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Swansea with a knee injury picked up during the game against Scotland last weekend. Rosicky played for Dortmund the last time the two sides met in Europe, scoring twice in a 2-1 win for the German side.
Also not traveling to Germany is Aaron Ramsey who suffered an ankle knock against Swansea. However, Arsene Wenger will welcome back Alex Song and Gervinho who have now both completed their domestic suspensions.
Full squad
Andrey Arshavin – Mikel Arteta – Yossi Benayoun – Marouane Chamakh – Johan Djourou – Kieran Gibbs – Gervinho – Lukasz Fabianski – Emmanuel Frimpong – Laurent Koscielny – Per Mertesacker – Ju-Young Park – Andre Santos – Bacary Sagna – Alex Song – Wojciech Szczesny – Robin van Persie – Theo Walcott
Ramsey we will miss but Rosicky don’t tink so.Believe we have enough personnel to do the job.Hoping Pat Rice can handle tins.
Spot on.
Not spot on! … So very not spot on. Not only is Tomas arguably the reason we’re playing in Dortmund at all, but he was easily the best player on the pitch against Scotland (Cze v Alba). If Aaron wasn’t going to make the trip then I would have been more than happy to have Rosicky alongside Arteta. Now I’m not at all sure what Pat Rice is going to do. Is Squillaci on the plane? Song and Frimpong in midfield? Or is it Arteta and Benayoun? Cesc (sniff), Diaby, Wilshere, Aaron, Tomas … all gone … and you don’t… Read more »
I think we could see:
Song Arteta
Walcott Arshavin Gervinho
Rvp
If you dont think Rosicky is a miss, then you obviously havent seen him this season. Conversely same goes for Ramsey, who has been poor.
i think rambo has been alright, he hasn’t been brilliant but he hasn’t been poor, just needs a couple of assists or goals to get his season going
This has been my biggest bone of contention since the season began (on here I mean) and the reason I stopped coming on the boards for a short while.
Rosicky for me has only been massively influencial this season. Some people either can’t see past the end of their nose or they’re watching a different team to us.
well, massively influential in one half of a critical CL qualifier. To me Rosicky is the master of the one touch pass backwards. I wish I had stats on # forward vs backward passes for Arsenals players.
Given Wenger will be in the stands I wonder which way Pat Rice will be facing for the game….
9ja boy: “Hoping Pat Rice can handle tins”?
Ricey can handle his cones so he’s not going to have issues with tins is he now.
I’m a big fan of Pat Rice’s tin-handling abilities.
Sorry nija boy, the spot on was meant to appear here. Think its so unfair on the Sicky one, he’s been brilliant this season. Rambo has been good too but not good enough for a starter, same as TR7, when everyone is fit and available.
Brilliant this season ? I decent half in champions league
So who joins Song and Arteta in the middle? Benayoun? Arshavin? At least we have some depth now. Wilshere, Diaby, Ramsey and Rosicky all missing and we can still field a decent midfield.
gee well lucky we got arteta now!
does this open up the door for arshavin in an attacking midfield role? which means arteta will play the wilshere role and song as anchor? then gervinho RVP and walcott up front?
i think that would really help arsh
Would love to see that. He’d enjoy not having to track back… I think Van Persie could play that role too with another striker in front of him. Benayoun is the ‘safe’ bet though.
I think Ramsey has had an ankle knock for at least a few games, I’ve seen him pull up a few times but it seems to have gone unnoticed…
Hopefully, this is the reason for his poor(ish) form this season, and he will come back better.
Na$ri was meant to travel, but it was discovered that he is a megacuntasaurus.
Classic!
It’s a shame for Sicky. Reckon he’d have been gee’d up facing his old boys. Still we seem to have a bit more depth to cover both him and Aaron off, so it’s all good.
Is it just me that sees yet another Arsenal player and the words ‘ankle knock’ in the same sentence and thinks here we go again..?
Ramsey could do with being rested anyway, so it’s not disastrous – as long as it’s not a long-term injury (Hah! as if..). I think Rosicky would have started against Dortmund, so that changes things – probably opens the door for Benayoun.
PS – after the shit we’ve been through lately, if there’s a footballing God (in addition to DB10 that is), here’s hoping that the ‘top’ Premier League footballer that’s apparently going to be outed tonight by Channel 4 as a cokehead, is someone on our collective Cuntlist.
This picture from Our site made me laugh!
http://www.arsenal.com/assets/_files/scaled/406×498/sep_11/zp_124368320SM021_Arsenal_Trai_698.jpg?ic=7f3b3dT
think it said top premier league player named tonight. So that discounts any of our squad then boom boom
I tried not to, but I lol’d.
This season should be Rosicky’s last pay day. He has done nothing for us since being here except paying bills for his injuries and huge weekly pay packet. His contract shouldn’t be renewed.
Rosicky will certainly be missed. He has played very well this season and obiously knows Dortmund very well. He would play like he had something to prove since this was his old club and he has valuable experience against Bundesliga sides. I’m concened that we have yet to play a consistant group of players in midfield as I think it is contributing to our lack of coherence on the pitch. Not much we can about it though with injuries and new signings. I still think we can get at least a point there though.
I’m very surprised at some of the comments here coz Rosicky is one of the worse players to ever play for us. Hopefully he’ll be gone in January.
Thats a ridiculous thing to say!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPX005dnOG4
Need I say more?
I think youve just gone and disproved the widely held belief that “there is no spoone”
Seriously? If he’s one of the worst players you’ve ever seen in an Arsenal shirt, you’ve got off lightly mate.
[…] Missing out on his return to Dortmund, would be Rosicky, and Ramsey too it seems. Both are injured and would not be traveling with the squad. More team news will follow tomorrow as Mr Bystander over here gets more news! […]
Gary O’Fuckin Connor??! Right. That’s it. Anyone connected with Dispatches also goes on the list.
Dam that’s my bet down the swanny I had a tenner it was arshavin on mogadon that was gonna be outed…now I can’t explain his performances at all now
As long as Djourou doesn’t play we will be solid at the back! I hope
Where’s Glenn Helder when you need him
we don’t need rosicky anymore. send him back to germany and bring in Esteban Granero from real madrid!!
http://www.ontheminute.com/news/news.php?news=33797
I have a soft spot for Rosicky, he seems the kind of player that really fits this team, that understands the way Arsenal plays the game. I think that he had a good start of season and I would like to see him in the midfield next to Arteta. Will always have faith in this guy, even though he is really annoying in a bad day on the pitch.