He may have grabbed the headlines for his match-winning cameo against Sweden, but it appears Theo Walcott just can’t shake off his injury jinx.
Still hindered by the same hamstring problem which curtailed his involvement in Arsenal’s quest for third place last term, the England winger looks likely to miss England’s final group game with Ukraine.
Speaking to BBC Radio, boss Roy Hodgson lamented:
“Unfortunately he [Walcott] had a slight set-back in training today, and that’s the major concern for us. He felt the hamstring that kept him out for so long at the end of last season and which we were slightly concerned about when he joined up with us.
“We took the precaution of taking him from the field because he felt a slight tightness there. Whether he can start or not will depend upon what the medical people will tell me, and I need to check that if I do start him he won’t be leaving the field after just five minutes and leave us with the 13 men rather than the 14 I’d count on.”
It remains to be seen whether Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is thrust into the mix as a consequence of Walcott’s absence, although early indications suggest James Milner and Ashley Young will start on the wings.
Walcott’s fitness frustrations are seemingly matched by Tomas Rosicky. The Czech midfielder sat out his country’s final group game with hosts Poland and now faces a race against time if he’s to feature against Ronaldo’s Portugal in Warsaw on Thursday evening.
With Andrei Arshavin, Nicklas Bendtner, Robin van Persie and Wojciech Szczesny all set for the beach after early exits, the remaining Arsenal-related interest is focused on France and Germany.
Laurent Koscielny has yet to feature for Laurent Blanc’s side, being kept out by the grease-merchant that is Philippe Mexes, but could still see action if Les Bleus secure passage to the knockout round tomorrow night. Supposed transfer targets Yann M’Vila and Olivier Giroud both had playing time as subs against Ukraine in the last game.
New boy Lukas Podolski had Gunners fans licking their lips in anticipation as he netted on his 100th appearance for Germany as Die Mannschaft beat Denmark 2-1 to secure their 14th consecutive victory in competitive matches. Per Mertesacker though has remained on the bench for the Germans first three games, despite recovering from the ankle problem picked up at Sunderland in February.
All in all, a mixed bag for Arsenal’s European contingent…
Can’t wait to see Podolski turn it on for us! I wish Walcott could put in these performances every time! Let’s hope he recivers soon and gets a good rest before the Sunderland game….. The Ox, Walcott on form/in the mood/ RVP and Podolski?? Defend against that!!!
COYG!!!!
bro you is high
High? possibly not….. Excited? Absolutely! Call it what you will, just can’t wait for the season to start!
So sorry for per mertesacker, he must be frustratred, going to the euros and till now he hasn’t come off the bench.
For koss it’s understandable coz he’s a rookie, though i’m sure one slip up by mexes (counting on it) and he will definetly be called upon.
I’m happy for 100cap podolski and get well soon you two good gunnerz!!!!.
Per will fight his way back, im sure of it!
Unless the other two centre backs get hurt, I don’t see him start a game during these Euros, though. Badstuber is first choice and Hummels has had a brilliant tournament so far. But Loew trusts him and his experience, he’ll surely get some mimutes..
hummels is gooooood, i didnt know that.
wish the germans would play more of the non-bayern kids we keep hearing about.
Kos > 3 Mexes(s). That is all.
3 Mexii?
3 messi……..(assuming he plays defence)
I keep thinking what is Blanc doing… but then again it’s Blanc… quite overrated as a defender, so what does he know. Kos is a real asset in central defence and well, France will learn their lesson for benching him… And hopefully it will make Na$ri cry like the cunt he is!
im not knocking poldolski but is it just me that does not reckon he will suit us , he has no ability to beat a man on the wings, hes best position is striker but that hopefully will be occupied so where exactly is he going to play for us, he plays wide for germany as they play a totally different position then us, we count on our wide men beating the full backs but this is not poldolski’s best asset
If any of these god foresaken rumors are true and we are trying to get M’Vila and Giroud ,I wouldn’t be surprised if Wenger uses 4-4-2 at times next season. Poldi is unlikely to be fixed on the wing, there would be a lot of interchange amongst the wingers and strikers.
I’ve seen him beat a man many times either by pushing and rushing for it or just hitting it so fucking hard and scoring that it doesn’t matter . He is not a natural winger he is a wide forward
Whereas we have Gerv, who can beat a man but can’t find the net…
He did the hard part eh? lol
I never really understood the criticism of Gerv. Other than finishing, he has most qualities needed to be a top footballer. And finishing isn’t something that can’t be perfected with hard work and training sessions. Wish the critics would get off his back.
Mark my words, Gervinho will be a vital player for us next season.
I though Adebayor was shit after his first full season playing and he came good (before leaving). I thought Song was shit after his full season and he came good as well. Figure it’s wise to give Gervinho another season or two before passing judgement lest I look like I have no idea what I’m talking about again.
Arsenal wingers have never been particularly prolific when it comes to goal scoring. Like Theo said, Wenger wants them to assist. If Gerv can chip in 15-20 assists each season, then I’ll love him. Same with Ramsey.
Our wingers are definitely expected to score. If they weren’t, it would be unreasonable to play with 1 striker– even if that striker is RvP.
I give you whoops-a-daisy Martin Hayesy (laa la laa la la laaaa)
And then there was crocked Dutch master Marc Overmars
The dreamy Bob Pires
Freddie
Arsenal have had many prolific wingers and that’s just in the relatively recent past…
Cliff Bastin was a winger, wasn’t he? He didn’t do too badly
He did bag 15 in his last season at Lille. He might still come good.
“The fact Thiago Silva will not go to PSG shows Milan remains an ambitious club, A big club doesn’t sell its best players.” – Zlatan Ibrahimovic after AC Milan rejected a €46 million [£37.4m] offer for Thiago Silva, pointing out how only big clubs are capable of resisting big-money offers. Guys I know Zlatan is a huge cunty mother fucker. But he has a point here. I’m disgusted at Gazidis and the management after they decided they would rather sell RVP and put a £30m price tag on him. Arsenal are a big club, we should be focusing our efforts… Read more »
It must be a sad, yet exciting life being someone who believes absolutely everything he reads without even thinking about whether or not it might be true.
I think the thing to do is wait for him or the club to actually come out and say something rather than believe click whoring stories about who is going/staying.
RVP will be back in a week or two from holiday so we’ll all find out then. Until then, as Public Enemy said “…Don’t Believe The Hype!…”
Do you know something i dont?
He knows everything you don’t…….but none of it is true!
To be fair, the players that we sell for huge money don’t exactly show loyalty or commitment to the club. That cunt Nasri comes to mind.
Indeed. Publically putting a price tag on him sends the wrong message to buyers (The correct message would be, “Back the fuck off!”) and to Robin (The correct message there would be, “You’re a Gunner through & through, and no amount of money would change that.”) The board has made another tactical error.
But that is a tactical error that exists *only in the heads of people who believe what they read in the media*
People who believe transfer gossip should be force fed a live feed of the Leveson enquiry until such time they understand the difference between fact (something that has or will demonstrably taken place) and bullshit (the vast majority of stuff published in papers and online)
Is this the story in the Mirror? The story that has no quotes and cites no sources?
You clearly trust newspapers over the club who have said that both they and Robin won’t be commenting about the contract situation until after the Euros.
Stripper……..I heard Messi admires Bendtner’s briefs and wants to come play with Arsenal BUT that wanker Arsene refused his offer because La pulgada won’t eat a baguette filled with English spine!
As well the Board refused Ronaldo’s offer to play for us for free because they wanted to spend some cash and he wasn’t buying it!
All these hard facts I obtained from that reputable source called LeGrove …but wait…you are a founding member over there,n’est-ce-pas?
Get a life mate before your psychiatrist has to dope you up on valium and x-lax…..
It’d be good to see Podolski against Stoke City away at Mordor. He’s someone who doesn’t get bullied and will most likely beat the shit out of cunts like Shawcross if they cross the line even a little bit.
Cant wait to terrorise stoke with an anchor midfield of mvila and song. an offensive 4 of walcott rvp and podolski playing behind giroud. hopefully for that one a back 4 of sagna mertesacker koscielny vermaelen.
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