Lukas Podolski will return to Arsenal’s squad for Saturday’s match with Swansea, although Bacary Sagna is a big doubt following a knock picked up in the 1-1 draw against Everton.
German site KSTE.de, carrying a quote from an official at the Emirates, reports that the 27-year-old has recovered from the illness which prevented him from travelling to Merseyside on Wednesday and will most likely return to the starting line-up in his usual role on the left side of the attack.
The news on Sagna is not so positive with boss Arsene Wenger telling Arsenal Player:
“From Wednesday night there are lots of bumps and bruises as you might expect but one serious doubt is Bacary Sagna with his foot.
“He got a knock at the start of the game when he cleared a ball. It is inflamed and he is a big doubt.”
In the aftermath of Wednesday’s draw Wenger immediately ruled Koscielny out for three weeks after he limped off inside three minutes. Reaffirming his initial prognosis, he stated: “It is a muscular problem, a thigh problem. That is normally three weeks.”
All being well Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker will line-up in the centre of defence with Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson the most likely duo on the flanks.
If there’s any further details we’ll update them here…
Just a theory based on incredible sabermetric analysis that Id like to throw out there – Podolski gets 20 mins off each game so that by the time Giroud is well and truly fagged out, Poldi steps up to lead the line and allow him rest for 3-4 games without completely ruining us.
possible, but it’s more likely that poldi is just genuinely not physically fit enough for the premier league yet. He won’t have a winter break like in germany, and the overall intensity of the football is higher, he also didn’t have much of a preseason because of euro 2012. I would like to see him up front though, he’s been clinical.
Podolski said himself that he wasn’t used to the tough match schedule, it may play some part in the substitutions. Anyhow i think he has done very well.
Also worth noting that Podolski has been playing left wing for us, which has meant a lot more defensive duty and tracking back than he did at Koln, where he largely played center forward in the last season.
I think he’s an ideal choice to play center forward if Giroud feels a little knackered, he definitely has been pretty clinical from the chances he’s gotten.
Koscielny out for three weeks!! NOOOOOOOO not the dreaded three week layoff!! We’ll see him again in March or something.
nono, he said “three weeks” not the usual “two to three weeks”. I think he’ll actually be fine in 3 weeks.
Need a big game from Corporal Jenks then, Swansea have been playing fantastically well this season, with some very astute signings from Spain (michu, pablo hernandez, de guzman), with some brilliant midfield combinations.
You know, like The Arsenal used to do, now we long ball to Giroud and can’t even play keep ball when we are winning.
Okay overmars, I’m starting to believe you’re actually him!.
Santi needs a rest. And maybe even Giroud. Has played every single game so far this season. Maybe go with Gervinho as CF and play Arshavin behind him.
Arshavin sadly can barely make the subs these days.
Let’s not forget our MF dynamo. Rosicky, has displaced arshavin off the bench, so cazorla has to start. It would be mental for him not to, especially against swansea. With a rosicky cameo in the final 10 minutes………….or not
ROSICKY IS EPIC
Your comment list all validity the second you said ” play gervinho”. Worst idea ever.
Hardly a big Gervinho fan..Ideally i would to like to see Podolski play upfront instead of Gervinho..But since the opening game against Sunderland not once have we seen Arsene play him there
It’s better to play Poldi as CF and Arshavin at the Wing in the absence of Giroud.
I think Sagna might be okay but Wenger just wants some game time for his corpral jenkinson.
Time will tell if he did indeed made the right decision.
Jenks has been good this year, so Sagna out for a game or two isn’t going to hurt us. Kos is a bit of a loss, and knowing how injuries work at Arsenal, I doubt he’ll be back before February.
Still got a good first team fit though, so there should be no excuses in our busy Christmas period.
As far as the Kos is concerned, we are not worried as we have good backups for his place, but we cant say the same for other positions. We need to buy this January
I know our defence isn’t perfect but it was only a couple of seasons ago I would have spent a day weeping at the thought of two of our defenders out injured. Feel a lot more confident with our backup. Jenkinson for President!!!!
LANS.
How did the mail miss the exclusive?
[…] 来源：[Arseblog News] […]
Dare I say this, but offensively Carl Jenkinson offers something more than what Sagna does – delivering crosses.
On that note, I’m not too concerned.
Sagna offers miles more, he can take on his opponent, he’s the 2nd target man (very important) apart from giroud and since he’s been back, he has crossed the ball better than jenks in all his glory.
Sagna is apple pie my friend, complete with cherry on top.
That is one of a more bizarre myths around – Jenks being a great crosser. Not only did Sagna cross more this season (check the stats), but his deliveries were statistically better. Sagna also tries to make somtething happen while attacking he passes the ball forward, looks for a teammates’ runs, something Jenks shuns (a confidence matter this one, I think).
Before thums down start flowing – i don’t write the lad off, all i’m saying is everybody is talking about him being a great crosser, as if he was some sort of Baines. Not yet he isn’t.
Spot fucking on!
There was no reason to fucking swear Reese 😉
Spot on. All this jenkinson being better than sagna crap is ridiculous. If bacs out. It’s a big loss for us. End of.
Bac will be out. Wenger will say ‘Bacary was “killing” Jenkinson’.
we need the 3 points -no excuses
reminds me of the last two games, where we also needed 3 points…
I can remember sagna delivering plenty of crosses last season and pretty much most fell to that little boy with no name……….but yes jenks has been very good. Saturdays gonna be a hard game. Gotta get behind the boys…..COYG!!
What does LANS mean… Anyone??
Like A New Signing. (see Standard Arsene-English Dictionary, edition 2)
we are few weeks away from injury to arteta, santi & or giroud at this rate.No reliable back up players for them yet so I would be more concerned about these players getting injured. I just hope they make it safely to jan and wenger buys quality players to support them. Fellaini (definitely)& Huntelaar(?) should solve our problem till summer. But let see what our Le Professor has decided for us this winter.
Just read arteta singing praises of fellaini and I just hope against hope this praise has to have some element of hint for wenger to bring his afro-wielding friend to emirates.
http://m.goal.com/s/en-gb/news/3565553
Ok guys its time to start your letters to Santa to avoid any LANS..
PABLO HERNANDEZ is OUT for swansea.
Also howard webb is out for united. Though phil dowd should be fit enough to award the much needed three points.
Good. Hes been in good form recently…..cunt
Hernandez may be out but speed demons Routledge and Dyer still have the ability to hurt us. Very concerned about this fixture. Swansea are better at our own game than we are these days.
Loosing Sagna might have been a worry, but we’ve got Jenkinson. And if we didn’t have Jenkinson we’d have Coquelin. And if Coquelin couldn’t play we’d still have Yennaris.
Why do Arsenal only offer 30+ players only one year contracts.
Don’t we understand the value of EXPERIENCE? You need to reward guys like Sagna who have given their all for the team, maybe give them a bench role in their twilight but definitely keep him.
Funny how we keep talking of resigning Thierry short term but wont give other guys a chance.
[…] quick look ahead to Swansea today and we’ll start with the team news. Lukas Podolski is fit again and I suspect he’ll start, while Bacary Sagna is a ‘big doubt’ with an ankle […]
[…] quick look ahead to Swansea today and we’ll start with the team news. Lukas Podolski is fit again and I suspect he’ll start, while Bacary Sagna is a ‘big doubt’ with an ankle […]