Arsene Wenger expressed his concern that Andre Santos could miss Saturday’s match with Everton after the Brazilian full-back appeared to turn his ankle blocking a shot in the second half of last night’s 3-1 defeat against Olympiakos.
A surprise inclusion in the starting line-up, the summer signing was replaced almost immediately by Ignasi Miquel but now faces a nervous wait as the medical team examine the extent of his injury.
The Gunners are already without Kieran Gibbs who is sidelined with a hernia and having sold both Gael Clichy and Armand Traore in the summer are somewhat short of options on the left side of defence.
Speaking after the match, Wenger told reporters: “Hopefully Santos will not be too long but, for Saturday against Everton, he looks to be short.”
The player himself tweeted almost immediately after the game relaying his hopes of still taking part in the weekend’s fixture: “I hope it’s nothing serious and I can go back to doing what I love before the Everton game.”
Big-boned Santos wasn’t the only injury headache following a physical showdown in Athens. Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was subbed in the first half after a clash with Thomas Vermaelen left him with a deep cut on his knee.
“Fabianski felt a deep cut on the knee and Santos suffered a bad ankle injury. He looks like he will be out for a while,” Wenger confirmed.
Arseblog News expects Vermaelen to take up the left-back slot against the Toffees with Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker filling the central positions and Johan Djourou on the right. An inanimate carbon rod will be sitting on the bench as back-up to Wojciech Szczesny. You heard it here first.
ah cmonnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have high hopes for the inanimate rod taking the goalkeeping understudy spot. It’s not as if it’s got a whole lot of competition.
Fabianski?
No, they’re going to put a statue of David Seaman in goal. The club feel he’ll save more shots
If it has anything to do with Santos, he’ll play against Everton. I think he’s a great signing – and I think having proper men like him, TV5 and BFG at the back sends serious confidence right up through the rest of the team – and players like Djourou look so much more settled having them on the pitch with them.
See you on Saturday, Andre. COYG!!!
Bring it on!!! Top 4 here we come.
Plus, Mannone is out. Though, we’ve been through worse injury spells than this so I think the team will be fine.
Though I think we still should buy a few more players (striker, full back) in January.
Surprised Santos started last night and it’s unfortunate he picked up an injury. Hoping its only the Everton match he misses but gut feeling is it seems a bit worse than that
We have 4 injured fullbacks right now, how unlucky is that? I think that we still can field a very strong back 4 (although of course playing Vermaelen at LB is somehow a bit of a waste in my eyes) and still having a decent bench with Miquel and Squilacy, shows that we have some really good depth in defense this year. And when they are all back we’ll have some really good competition. Haven’t been so confident about our defense in years 😀
3 is unlucky and 4th one is stupidity.
Doesn’t he fucking know that he only have handful of performers in the team. Arsene wenger – how can one be so genius and so stupid at the same time?
wenger just pissed me off and i believe millions of other gooners as well. His selection was moronic. WHAT THE FUCK WAS HE THINKING. We knew there was no covering for left back if santos got injured and still he started with him in a meaningless match!! How stupid one can get?? Well i suppose he wasn’t satisfied with that amount of stupidity and decided to play TV5 as well.
What respect does he want to show to CL? He never gets respect from UEFA then what’s the point in respecting the competition?
It’s just fuking ridiculous!!!
We got out played by opponents who wanted it more. Time to deal with it.
Wenger wanted to show respect to the CL because Arsenal are not classless cunts.
Well not millions certainly. The news is sad but I won’t be too surprised if Vermaelen slots at left-back very well. He did the same at Ajax. I know he could’ve chosen a younger left-back to take to the field yesterday, but then that’s a bit like nitpicking I’d say. I realize that you think Santos has no backup, but remember that AW considers Vermaelen as a solid backup at left back. Until you change that perception, he might as well keep continuing this act which makes you pissed, quite impressively. And besides, is he really ‘respecting’ the CL? No,… Read more »
I second this statement, although perhaps not quite so vehemently. Why risk starting Santos, it’s not like he needed the run out, he’s started every game for us since Gibbs went down.
Really don’t understand the decision to play Santos, especially when you consider the amount of games he’s played recently and that Miquel had a decent showing at LB against City.
In terms of Vermaelen, maybe he just wanted a bit of leadership on the pitch in the absence of Captain Vantastic…?
We are 1 injury away from Almunia being back in the team. I don’t know about you but I am very fearful!
Aside the fact that I am tired of we throwing our reliable center backs all over the wings, I also cant trust Vermaelen in Central defence except he plays alongisde TV. And sentiments apart, Miguel is a player we can trust in times of eventualities like this. Thought he even did better at left back than Santos after coming on. And let us not deceive ourselves that we have enough players, it is becoming obvious we dont have depth beyond 15players or so. And the league is a marathon, not a sprint. Chamack out, without a shadow of doubt. And… Read more »
Can you explain the start of your comment? You can’t trust Vermaelen in central defence except he plays alongside TV… Well TV would be Thomas Vermaelen, so he would have to play alongside himself? He’s a good player but i’m not sure he can clone himself quite yet. Wading through the rest of your rant, i can deduce that you have not got a great idea of how the team rotation works… You don’t play A or B teams. You have a first team and add the squad players into it. I’d say we have a fairly solid team when… Read more »
Meant to say Metersacker to play with TV, not Vermaelen wit TV obviously even though I’ll love to have a pair of the Verminator. Devils ink. Sorry gays.
Have you just tarnished all readers as gays?!?
A rod is definitely better than that other Pole
It is a while since I was at school, but I thought a rod, a pole & a perch were all the same thing!
Lehmann anyone?
Crazy decision to play santos, the ony fit full back at the club. Am so fucking pissed off. Game meant nothing hence
Playing clowns like arshavin squillachi and fabianski. Total joke ….rant over
I love the Simpsons references. Keep them coming blogs.
The rod could also do a good job as backup to the coq
Oh and while I’m
Pissed off , arsene are u sure we don’t need a striker ? Park clearly isn’t good enough in his eyes or he would play him , Chamkh is non existent in games and I ain’t even gonna go their about the lazy Russian git. again rant properly over… Nurse time for my medication
Or Park is still climatising to a new country, new style of play, a new league, etc… I bet you ranted about Koscielny in his first season as well
I reckon Miquel over Vermaelen on the left so we can keep TV5 in the centre. He’s so fantastically effective through the middle up and down that I reckon it’d be to the detriment of the team to farm him onto the wing. Not so sure against City though Miq did okay gainst them last time out. Our best centre back pairing seems to be Kos and Verm. So if we veiw them as the best pair for us in the centre could we not focus on them as the most effective factor for the defence along with Song, then… Read more »
I’m taking my boots on Saturday. Just in case, like
The verm can plat lb. I’m sure Wenger knew the risk he was taking and felt he had to take it.
gervinho can also plait on the left
*boom tish*
I’ll get me coat…
have to say I was a bit nervous to see santos and Verm in the starting 11. Wenger has recently spoke of players reaching a “danger zone” and risking injury due to the fixtures piling up. For him then to feature a player who has just come back from missing the better part of a year from injury and our only fit full back in a game that was essentially meaningless was a bit worrying. Rightfully so, it turns out. I was also kind of disappointed not to see Park take part in the action at all. He hasn’t exactly… Read more »
Why the fuck did Wenger even play Santos and Vermaelen in that dead game last night? We had everything to lose and nothing to win. If a player is going to get injured then at least it should be in a proper game. Now we’ve lost our only left-back – idiot Wenger!
you are an idiot who, had santos not been selected last night, would have been berating the manager for leaving out a man clearly in need of match fitness and still acclaimatising to arsenal
the irony that it was a dead game is clearly lost on your pea sized brain. have you considered *why* the game was “dead”? of course not
lame troll, 0.000001/10
next!
If we lose to Everton (which I don’t think we will) then you will be whining here about the loss of Santos. He could have got match practice against Everton while doing something useful. Only numb-nuts Wenger would have risked his only left-back (and his best centre-back) in a meaningless game.
hahahahaha you’re quite funny actually, bless. stupid, cosmically so, light must actually be sucked into the vacuum where your brain ought to be, but just benny-out-of-crossroads mouthbreathing enough to be funny.
you could be related to john terry, you know. terrifying thought but there we go.
Even so, it was a idiotic decision to play him, stop tryingto defend a pointless game, fatgooner has a point.
LB and CB who are still short of match fitness so would need to play anyway.
The troll does not have a point. I hear Man City are looking for more fans on Thursday nights, maybe you should try there….
Yeah Fatgooner’s has a point – it was a bad decision and a risk but you can’t really predict these things. If Miquel had been injured in the CC last week we would have still had Santos playing and Wenger would have gotten the blame so really while I’m worried about Santos, I don’t know what else Wenger could have done, he had to take a chance somewhere and unfortunately for us we lost a full back. But getting melodramatic and calling the manager an idiot is an overreaction. If he had played the entire first team, I’d agree with… Read more »
What a rush! Why do this happen to us? I hope this is not gonna be like the bad-old times!!!
Santos just tweeted and google translated this as this:
“Just got to take aq! Yesterday I twisted my ankle in a bid silly, the doctor said qo, I q 3 weeks of each gravy, aff: ((”
Apparently he needs three weeks off gravy?
three weeks of gravy, says google. each gravy! he’ll be fucking collossal by the time he’s back in training with all that gravy.
He can do the truffle shuffle instead of the samba
Where are you Eboue!
did anyone see how barcelona respected CL….they played their whole fuckin academy.even the bench was full of academy except pedro and pique….fuck why didn’t we do that.they still won with that team!!!!!
miss you andre.perhaps you desrve some time off…take care of your new born kid and make yourself home at london and come back stronger!!
COYG….its december..let’s kick some ass
Respect the champions league. What total and utter bolox of an excuse to defend what was a rediculas decision to play our only fit full back.
Thank you, Voldermort. Sammy Nelson’s backside up there can’t see the simple point that I am trying to make. And he calls ME pea-brained!
You’re right, but Wenger didn’t say he was doing it to respect the CL. The official line is that Santos needed match practice. Of course when there’s an injury, the said match practice comes to nothing but there was an equal chance of Chamakh getting injured and none of us would be complaining then. It’s frustrating when these things happen but I’d have been as frustrated if Miquel or Coquelin or Frimpong had gotten injured. As long as TV5, RVP, Szcz and the midfield stay fit, I think the rest of the squad can fill in the gaps as and… Read more »
The point you were trying to make (such as it is) is debatable – Santos needs match practise/fitness – and was obscured by your spiteful and irrelevant attack on Wenger
That’s why you get the thumbs down, pea-brain. You’ll notice plenty of people querying the decision to play Santos without having to call Wenger an idiot, which he clearly is not whatever your opinions on his rotation policy.
Ar I agree at some points, I do think we have the players to cope with everton but man city ? I’m not so sure and we now have 4 centre halves in defence and are only one injury away from squillachi.
You’re right Voldermort. Of course it was a risk and unfortunately it panned out in a bad way though it’s not the worst news. I would be more worried had we lost the Verminator or any other regular first teamer. Santos is a loss and it might be one of those things that we look back on with regret, OR everything might work out just fine and both Andre and Gibbs will be back to take over from whoever it is that fills in at left back. After the first half at Chelsea, nobody would have expected Santos to have… Read more »
Wasn’t there a chance that the youngsters could win with flying clours with our best defensive side in the back and get further confidence? If that actually happened, the offensive senior players who are obvisouly (or apparently, whichever) lacking in confidence could have rememberd their best days. Sometimes Wenger’s plans ended up being a bit dream-like, but then we know well when it works it’d mesmerise us.
Media reports Santos as being out for 3 weeks. He’ll miss the christmas schedule but be back for January.
he’ll need christmas to scoff all that gravy
But he might add stuffing and potatoes to it which is not part of the doctors plan….
we have no full backs. sagna and jenkinson are out on the right. santos and gibbs out on the left.
Yay for our defense crumbling again, no natural right or left back available, still Arsene will not need to get the cheque book out at Xmas.
We could always put Diaby back there, ahahahaha.
Vermaelen started life as a left back, played for Ajax as left back and centre back and plays for Belgium at left back. Koscielny can play at right back and centre back, as he did for Lorient and now Arsenal. So you could have Mertesacker and Miquel in the centre with Verm and Kos as the full backs. Not great but still a back four of internationals in one way or another. As long they are disciplined and Song carries on when he left off, then they’ll be fine against Everton