Jack Wilshere may have had a setback in his recovery from his long-term ankle problem, but several other first team squad members are closing-in on a return.
Speaking to the media ahead of the FA Cup clash with Aston Villa, the boss confirmed that the likes of Mikel Arteta, Thierry Henry, Francis Coquelin and Bacary Sagna could all be involved on Sunday, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will definitely be included in the squad despite being subbed last week with a cramp-ridden calf.
“[Mikel Arteta’ is very close to full training, Thierry Henry as well,” Arsene told assembled press at London Colney.
“Bacary Sagna is back in full training. Many players who are not specialist right backs have been playing in this position so we are relieved to have Bacary back.”
“[Coquelin] is back in the squad, he is available. That makes him, Henry, Bacary and Arteta back in contention for the squad.
“[Chamberlain] is alright, it was just fatigue. His calf was not gone or anything like that, he just started to tire a little bit. It is normal for a guy who plays a game at that intensity. But health-wise he has no problem. He will be involved on Sunday.”
The return to fitness of Kieran Gibbs and Thomas Vermaelen and the steady improvement of Andre Santos also means the prospect of signing Wayne Bridge (or any other dodgy, unwanted football charlatan…or Omani trialist) has been dismissed once and for all.
“Gibbs is back in full training on Monday, and Vermaelen can [also] play left back and he is fit. [Andre] Santos will be fit in March,” he said.
“Three left backs, plus Sagna – who can play there – is four. We are not [shopping for a] left back.”
While Arseblog News could harp on about the fact that the winning goals scored by Fulham, Swansea and Manchester United were arguably down to the fact a recognised left-back was not available, we can’t be bothered to cry over spilt milk.
And Jack?
Sorry – just saw this was addressed in another thread. My bad.
Harumph.
Good. Now let’s reconstruct our defence….
Wow, fuck. The damage has already been done, Wenger. We needed fullbacks for more than two months, and don’t tell me Sagna and then Gibbs will be match fit any time soon.
This situation has already cost us points, and it will continue to do so. So the news that the imminent return of Sagna is great, but in the time Wenger SHOULD have done something about his absence, we instead lost further ground in the fight for fourth.
Yep, Wenger himself said in December ‘it would be stupid to drop points because we don’t have a left back’. Now he tries to make a question about signing a left back sound stupid by saying ‘we have four’. Disingenuous stuff. Tiresomely so.
Perhaps that comment was aimed at the board…. I remember him making a veiled comment about loosing Cesc & Nasri &having ambitions of being a big club… You do realize that as of the summer we have in place a ‘player acquisition team’… a bunch of Kroenke’s yankee doodle minions who approached the summer transfers in typical hee-haw fashion & were told to piss off by the top agents (the fact that we are el cheapo might have played a part as well) In my opinion, our shit is gonna stink until we get a competent replacement for Double D… Read more »
So what is the solution? Spend money on buying another FB we don’t need, taking up a squad place and costing us wages… overall wasting money that could go into more important aspects of the squad, or getting a FB on loan that is on loan because they aren’t good enough to play for their club? I agree that we could have done with one don’t get me wrong, but this isn’t a computer game and the idea of just going and getting a player at the drop of a hat isn’t grounded in reality
Of course it isn’t easy. That’s why the people who are supposed to be capable of such things are paid in the region of £7m a year.
The solution is to buy baines and sell Gibbs. Simple, makes us stronger and less injury prone.
Stoph,
To think Gibbs would stay fit for the remaining of the season is like burying your head in the sand and hope for the best.
Here stats for you, in four years Gibbs never played more than 3/4 together without getting injured. Beside Santos as good as out for the season, don’t we need back up LB????? Or embarrassing our best defender playing him out of position is good???
Great news, Now lets go for creative midfielder to give Ramsey some rest and go for the like of Nuri Sahin as he is picking splinters our of his ass at RM, around 15 to 20 mill would do it, or go for the cheap EPL options one of those four would do. Mark Davies (Bolton) Ben Arfa (Newcastle) Sessegnon (Sunderland) Dempsey (Fulham) Oh I when Gibbs and Le Coq are back we give Kos and Song a little rest. Yes, i give up on new striker, just got to home someone could cross the ball for Chamakh so he… Read more »
Henry was meant to be the man to spell RVP, not Park. Of course, that only works until the end of February, but by then we’ll probably be in such dire straits that there’s no way we’ll be able to rest RVP.
Hmm is it me or I was thinking Henry was cover Forehead?
However, we both agree RVP needs a rest baldy.
the fact that we arsenal fans have to settle for these mediocre players(barring dempsey) itself shows how far we have come.this is not arsenal standard.i would rather prefer wenger get some unknown player from random part of the world like he always does.
Wow at all them LANS!!
You wait for one LANS for ages and four come together.
Lanstastic 🙂
LANT- Like A New Team
Now Morocco out of the ACN….
Chamakh is coming back on Monday or Tuesday, could we call him LANS or is that pushing the LANS a little too much!!!!!
Oh, the goalkeeper of the Moroccan team had malaria, Chamakh as far as I know have a stomach illness. I wish him well.
Are we supposed to celebrate? Its clear that Gibbs’ will have an injury plagued career – as much as I hate to say it – and Santos is not good enough defensively. We should have bought a proper leftback long ago, right after we cashed in on Clichy. Where’d that money go? The myth of ambition around this club is starting to get old. An MLS loanee to supplement our most fragile position and a 19 year old ex-Charlton player as first team cover? Makes you wonder.
That money went to Highbury square which if you have been reading ALL Arsenal news you would have known was fully paid for over the summer. That Clitchy money helped finish the payments. That ex-Charlton player is a Arsenal fan born so he will work and his crosses are great. Also whats wrong with going 80s. Remember in the 1980s where all clubs like Arsenal, Man U etc would buy there stars from the former Division 2 or 3. Also that MLS loany has already made an impact and is our god.(If you follow Henryism) Also just because Santos is… Read more »
hate people who talk thrash about santos.we miss him more than anything.he is one of the best arsenal players with the ball on his feet.he can make a real diffference in our style of play.
Santos is not good enough defensively ?
He doesn’t even count as a proper left back ?
You aren’t just more knowledgable that Wenger, regarding fullbacks, but are clearly superior to Dunga and Menezes as well.
Get on a plane, man. There’s a job waiting for you in London.
Barriecuda, I like how you enquire about the money Clichy was sold for likes its your money. Arsenal fans needs to understand that football is a business. We are not Man City or Chelsea where the club was bought as a personal toy by people with enough money to buy the recession. Arsenal is a club that lives within its means, yet this seems to be a big problem for the so called fans. I agree that we should be able to ask questions, however, I am personally at a loss as to how so called fans can constantly put… Read more »
“….and Vermaelen can play left back ”
NO! he can’t ,he is a not very good leftback . Stop playing him out of position ,he makes some simple mistakes when playing there ,you are embarassing THE VERMINATOR + we are missing our Best CB .
I know, Djourou keeps getting played at right back 😉
I don’t understand why People don’t value djourou that much , he is our 4th best CB ,it’s his job to keep Squillaci in the reserves . that’s very important .
People are so quick to forget Djourous undefeated streak last year. Also he helped shut down Messi and Company at the Emirates last year. Something Mr. Vidic couldn’t do.
I was OK with JD at CB as 3rd or 4th option…
obviously he’s no RB..
however I feel his confidence might be shattered after the abuse he received as a RB in this last few months..
YENNARIS will start. COME ON NICO!
vladiziv- I mentioned him on Twitter saying good luck and that he is the best defender in Swiss and he replyed back saying thanks and that he is pumped for the Villa game.
Why am I saying this, becuase if he becomes his old self again you can thank me
Arsenallkid700, I thank you now for encouraging him. Good job.
I await the day Gibbs comes out in legs braces and literally runs out of them (ala forrest gump) while Wenger shadows him along the sideline screaming encouragement. Maybe he can even score a goal at the end of this fantasy.
i think has already happened to RVP
SCORE ROBIN SCORE!!
I would say the same for Diaby but that scenario would almost certainly end in a mistimed tackle from a orcish looking twat, resulting in the Diabys foot flying into the stands and clocking a young child in the face. Said orc would likely be told of firmly.
Sagna can play there, you all hear and see that wenger is a mad rass man. Coins at you if we loose sunday, you dont care about fans reaction, lets see
A ridiculous waste of money.
He’s dismissed fan reaction as ‘one or two bad reactions to one or two defeats’. If he really can’t see it’s part of a much bigger picture of discontent over all the issues we all go over and over, then all he’s going to do is end up turning everyone against him in the end with such wilful blindness and arrogance. I fear it will be a long and painful process.
Nah, he’s just pissing off a few loudmouthed twats and a few hundred sheep who follow their lead with the booing. There is no mass discontent, just a few people saying there is in the hope that it will convince the rest of us that we should all be critiising ‘arrogant’ Wenger, the ‘greedy’ board, the “not fit to wear the shirt” players, the “clueless” medical department, the “cunts” who left us, the “cunts” who won’t leave us, the “fucking” weather, and the price of milk. We don’t “all” go over and over the issues. Only a few of “us”… Read more »
“……..We are not [shopping for a] left back.”
He didn’t say Midfielder or striker . Wenger is refusing to rule out Striker/Midfieder move .With Diaby and Wilshere out for the rest of the season surely that mean he’ll buy ,rite?
Possibly. Though he did recently say something about players moving in the January window being mercenaries, so I think he would be reluctant to buy. Would be nice though, eh?
Hahahahaha, sorry you was being serious wasn’t you?!
I admire your faith. Unfortunately the modicum of faith I had in Wenger ran out last week. I can’t have faith in anyone that leaves something so important to chance.
HEY! one can only masturbate…..mentally
Excellent…so although we didn’t have to buy a fullback in January it only cost us 9 league points this month….out of 9. Fuck me!
I wish the transfer window was just Jan 31st, at least we’d only have to endure one day of disappointment as opposed to a month.
I do think the press are trying to turn the screw on Arsene by not even putting any possible targets in the press, thus increasing the fans frustration.
…and Wenger’ll rush them into the lineup to appease everyone, and they’ll get tired quick due to not being match fit, he’ll have to sub pretty much the entire back line, someone will kick RvPs head clean off, we’ll have to end the game with 9 men because Song will stamp the culprit into tomato paste…The cycle will continue….lol….just kidding. I’m not a D&G’er . Yet.
But what about the fucking quality striker that we need?
Don’t tell me: we’ve got Chamakh to come back from the ACON, oh and we’ve still got Park. And Arshavin can play there at a pinch; and Henry’s still here til the end of February and…
Fuck me! Wake up Wenger!
I think the ‘Bank Manager’ is hoping RVP stays fit all season and finish top 4 and win the FA cup and just bring back Joel Campbell next season instead of buying .
he also hoped we we could won all January matches without a specialized LeftBack , and that backfired.
Hope he doesn’t gamble with the Midfield situation too with Diaby and WIlshere injured for rest of the season.
This kind of stinginess is Very special ,That SELF SUSTAINABLE MODEL thingy better be worth it
Fatgooner, you missed some information in your post. What’s his name ? Does his club want to sell him this month? How much does his club want for him? Does he want to come to England or move to London? How much does he want in wages, and for how long? What is the plan to stop the Man City/Chelsea/Man Utd manager from immediately talking about their interest in him, and their hope something “can be done” in the summer? Can he play in the Premiership without any acclimatisation period? Does he have a work permit? Will he be happy… Read more »
I hear that Andy Carroll could be on the way out of Liverpool. He cost them £35Million so he MUST be a quality striker – and he wont be cup-tied for the ECL!
Why. Do some click on the thumb down icon whenever other fans criticise Wenger, is he a god?
He has been doing and saying silly things but because he got where we are has now ruled him out of any criticism or blame whenever he makes mistakes, he should be blamed just like any other manager, but I don’t support abuses.
Lately he has been shit, doing shit and getting shit results, you can go ahead and do the thumb thing, we all know we are not enjoying the shit been served to us lately.
kinda the opposite. If you were on here earlier this week the anti-Wengers were thumbed up on every post and the pro-Wenger comments were not visible
I miss Mr Eboue.
We wouldn’t have had any defensive problems if we’d kept him. I mean, the guy has won Barcelona. Btw I hate Barcelona
Doesn’t matter how much we discuss our squad. It simply isn’t strong enough to compete for any silverware nor a champions league place. This season is a complete right off and to all those who still believe we can win a cup or even get 4th in the league, get your heads out of your arses. There was a time when we purchased players from a world cup winning squad, real quality. Not any more. Other clubs are laughing at us, ie Tottenham and that fuks
Me off