Arsene Wenger believes that the most of Arsenal’s injury problems are down to bad luck, but says the club will do everything possible to find any underlying problems.
With Aaron Ramsey struggling to overcome a thigh problem which forced him out of the West Ham game on December 26th, Theo Walcott sidelined with a cruciate problem, Jack Wilshere out of action with a cracked bone in his foot and Mesut Ozil hamstrung for the next 3-4 weeks, Arsenal are without some of their most important and dangerous players.
Although there are different causes for each of those injuries, the manager has promised to take a good look at the medical set-up to see if improvements can be made.
Asked today if he was worried about the spate of recent injuries and slow recoveries, Wenger said, “I am concerned that it happens, because if you look at our overall injury list going into such a final and decisive part of the season, we have no Wilshere, no Walcott, no Ozil, no Ramsey.
“We went to Bayern without Gibbs and Monreal. We are analysing very deeply why it happens and to see if there’s a link between all the injuries.
“For some it’s bad luck. For example, Walcott is completely bad luck. Wilshere, I don’t think it is linked with his history. The rest, maybe we have to find out why it happened.
When pressed if that was a case of looking at medical treatment or training methods, he said, ‘Everything’.
There’s an argument that Theo’s was “bad luck” – Could have been down to fatigue after playing too frequently following his previous injury?
Fantastic to hear that we are looking into it though.
Disagree. Fatigue may be a factor when you pull a muscle but ACL rupture from fatigue? If you look at the moment he got the injury you can see his studs get stuck in the turf and his body is going one way but the knee is going the other way.
It is possible that fatigue contributed – tired bodies are carried in a different way to fully fit bodies – it is possible that Walcott’s fatigue led to him moving in a ‘lazier’ (for want of a better word) way than normal which might have contributed to the trauma that caused the rupture. As Blogs often says, these are professional athletes who are paid to be in peak condition, but with the sports science software and medical expertise at a club such as the Arsenal, we ought to be able to notice and respond to fatigue correctly – after all,… Read more »
He started his first game almost one month after he returned to training. Playing 5 games in 16 days might have caused the injury, but surely we can’t say he was rushed back too quickly?
The only way Theo wasn’t bad luck was that he went down having twisted his knee, then played on. When you twist your knee the joint is unstable for a few days, so sprinting on it is a serious no no, a “small tweak” can quickly turn into “torn to buggery”
My theory is that he is so desperate to win something after such a long drought that he’s scared to rotate earlier in the season the way other more confident teams do. As a result he ends up overplaying the likes of Ozil and Cazorla.
I think we can put away bottom half teams with Rosicky instead of Ozil or Podolski instead of Cazorla to cite an example. But I don’t really blame him, it’s been a long time since Le Professeur got on that podium.
Wenger has never been much for rotation throughout his Arsenal reign. Look at the way he ran Cesc into the ground for a prime example. Wenger has a quorum of players that he trusts and unless they suffer a dip in form, get injured or get caught with their pants pulled up… he tends to play the same team week in week out in the Prem & CL. You only have to observe his comments about signing a maximum of 3 players in a summer because he believes it disrupts the team’s style of play/understanding etc. I guess what i… Read more »
Well, firstly, Wenger’s statement about not signing more than 2 or 3 players in a transfer window has nothing directly to do with rotating the squad. His point is actually correct, you just have to look at sp*rs. And I think the idea that Wenger in particular doen’t like rotating is a myth. I looked at the number of outfield players in each club that has played more than 1800 minutes in the league (arbitrary number, I know, but it seems sufficiently large to me). (Figures from transfermarkt.co.uk) Arsenal has six: Giroud (2236), Cazorla (1801), Ozil (1827), Sagna (2160), Koscielny… Read more »
The problem is that our players aren’t actually rotated, they lose minutes because they are out injured. That is the difference.
So I should just add minutes to those players who have been injured so that they have more than 1800 minutes?
You could argue the other way around, that *because* we’ve had so many injuries we haven’t been able to rotate that much. It’s all guess work, I’ve just given the figures.
‘Stat-O Stat-O’
Respect for the effort here.
Agreed, but I think it’s also the case with the players. Everyone’s so desperate to be successful and win something that I think our players sometimes work their bodies more than they can handle. An example is Ozil staying on for almost a whole half injured because he felt he had to prove something or Wilshere staying on for England with a bone fracture. 9 years without a trophy brings desperation which in my opinion brings injuries.
Simple, squad rotation is the answer, look at chelsea, I know they have alot more better players, but theres a reason why they buy 2 good players for every position.
Ramsey played something like 30 games for club and country with no break from mid august to december, thats bound to cause a muscle injury at some stage. Ozil came with no pre season and always had a winter break, its not rocket science, the others, maybe we could do with better medical team.
‘there’s a reason why they buy two good players for every position’.
The answer you’re looking for is ‘Because they are loaded.’
We have money, but not as much as the Toy clubs of city/Chelsea. Look at City’s forwards! They have 4 top drawer strikers costing between 22m and 40m. Even with our money, we can’t match that and pay the wages. We can get one at that level, perhaps two at a real push.
City and Chelsea can take the injuries more than others due to being pathetic toy clubs (not bitter honest).
I’m just wondering what’s going on with Diaby. Cause he doesn’t work for like a year, is he studying sg? Or practising some martial arts or maybe doing some shifts at a little restaurant back in France? I’m just being simply curious.
ahahaha bad luck? cmoon man
If Arsenal’s injuries are down to bad luck, then we really need to check under the Emirates for some kind of ancient burial ground. Because we clearly pissed off some powerful forces.
Squad rotation would certainly help a lot. The mentality small clubs have of playing Arsenal that requires them to kick us off the part just so they can actually compete against us is also a factor. Maybe a big bastard in the middle of the park would help prevent that.
We also need to get the trophy monkey off our back so we can go back to resting players again in future FA and League Cups to give the first 11 some rest.
I think we should look for a new perspective on the root cause by formulating a crack team of the worlds finest minds. Shirely the club can look no further than The Equaliser, Iron Man and The Legion of Doom.
Don’t call me Shirley! ;0)
We’re all right behind you!
with the exception of Ozil and Ramsey no one has been overplayed imo. Jack.Gibbs are injury prone. Kim was already injured. Monreal and Theo aren ‘t overplayed. Also we had Caz. Ox.Poldi. Theo out for most of the 1 st half. Definitely need to strengthen the bench in summer.
agree with that sentiment. We have been lucky in the departments where we are actually thin.”striking” and “Centre back” but I think there is a case for that perception by some Small Team mentality that seems to think the only way to play arsenal is to kick them out of the game and the referees turning a blind eye to it. I hated Ferguson’s referee manipulation but he seem to know what to do to make referees protect his players.
Maybe our CB and Strikers are fitter in a way. Our injuries are a combination of factors .We have only about 17 players who can be trusted. Lets see if the inquiry brings out something.
I think sadly Theo was a being little overplayed before his injury. He only came back from injury in early December but once he was back he played pretty much every minute over christmas against City, Chelsea, West Ham, Newcastle (80mins), Cardiff and then Spurs – his sixth full game in 3 weeks.
We do seem to have the most key players out with long term injuries, every season. It’s not bad luck, something’s not being done right
When you refuse to fortify your team. At least two good players in each department even when you have the money to do so, you are bound to have problem like this. Wenger’s miserliness is telling on the team heavily. Even robots are programmed to work for specific period. Please let someone tell Prof Arsene ‘nonentity’ Wenger to spend for next season. We, the Gunner’s fan are tired of him making the same mistake season in, season out!
You are more than welcome to speak for yourself, but don’t bring this ‘We, the Gunners fan..’ crap!
You mean “I, the Gunner’s [sic] fan”, not “We”. You are speaking only for yourself (which you are perfectly entitled to do), but please do not try to make it look as though all other Gunners’ fans stand with you when almost all do not.
We, some of the other Gunners fans, don’t agree with you, and I am unanimous in that.
I really hope they are going to look into this. I’ve been saying this for so long, something is not right at the club for all these consistent injuries we have. I don’t just think it’s medical though. Nutrition plays a big part with AW regime. I do know that a lot of the players don’t eat red meat. Look I know I’m no sports scientists but maybe something like this could be a cause.
They may not eat red meat but I’m sure they eat lettuce and other iron-rich food.
Something which might contribute > I sometimes see some unnecessary 50-50 challenges from our players – perhaps as a comeback for the criticism we get about not being tough-tackling enough. Ozil ducks out of some of those challenges. Plebs would say “you should be going in there” and “stick your foot in”, but realistically Ozil wouldn’t win and so he doesn’t go in – Essentially it’s being intelligent about it. I squirm when I see Wilshire going in for those 50-50 challenges that some people in England call a “good old fashioned tackle”. Sometimes you’re not going to win and… Read more »
I think we’re just a bit unlucky. But the players have probably been pushing themselves extra hard after such a great start, determined that we win something, and I think this has contributed to it. Agree that Ramsey and possibly Ozil have been played too much at the start of the season. But, it is hard to rotate players when they’re so vital to the team however and in good form. It’s a good job we have got such strength in depth in midfield this year as we have been able to cope fairly well with all the injuries so… Read more »
For all the talk of “red zones” there does not seem to be any real scientific approach being employed, and worse, not much common sense being applied. In two games before Ramsey broke down, it was clear to anyone without medical training that he was not moving as well. Several times, players have been sent back on during game by physio when they are clearly still injured. Why did nobody spot Ozil had done hamstring? I welcome the roots up review, but let’s hope it’s real and not just sound bite.
Actually ACL tears tend to happen at the end of games when the muscles are fatigued. This means the knee is not supported fully by the surrounding muscles, particularly the quads which stabilise the knee, and this can lead to excessive or unnatural twisting of the knee, like we saw with Walcott.
So while ACL injuries can be bad luck, perhaps some of it was down to Theo’s conditioning. Good to hear Wenger is keen to tackle the issue though.
It’s all down to the wrong kind of training.
Apparently in pre- season, wengers got them training like marines. This method only has a 3 month fitness level, after that fatigue kicks in and so does the injuries.
If it was that simple they’d have sussed it out by now. I don’t think we’ll find any Apparentlies are to blame. It’s going to be something that’s not apparent. If it is training related then perhaps we are training for dodgy, nippy tiki-taka movements instead of run-fast-with-big-strong-muscles movements, but still, even that should be easy enough for them to have worked it out years ago. I think my money is on the cursed burial ground.
It’s not just this year that we have had trouble with injuries, its been going on for years and has became a bit of a joke. I don’t know if its because they are over trained, over played ,not rotated enough or Wenger won’t take them off quick enough if an injury does occur. If it is true Ozil felt his hamstring tight within the first 5 minutes then why wait as long as half time before looking at it? Is it that we trust the players to make their own assessment of injuries rather than listening to the advice… Read more »
They totally revamped their medical department a couple of years ago. Spent a bloody fortune on it. It’s not really likely to be poor treatment, and they do have specialists who understand fitness regimes, diet and training and how they affect players. They’ve hardly been neglecting the perceived problem before now.
Would LOVE to see a 7 AM infographic on our injuries compared with other top teams! *hint hint*
Does nobody else think this is more related to the diminutive nature of our squad? I know we have a lot of big hearts, but we give up a lot physically to most teams.
Also, fatigue has to be a factor. We are small squad, but that’s what Wenger wants to keep the spirit and camaraderie high.
COYG!!! Let’s smash some Spuds!
Ah, the “If you kick a titchy guy he breaks easier and flies farther” theory of broken Arsenal players.
Are all our long-term injuries this season titchy guys?
The Equaliser… pmsl!!
I would agree about squad rotation but we had injuries at the beginning of the year and the squad was paper thin remember?
Make the players wear “football boots” would be a start.
How someone can thumb down laughter at another’s joke is embarrassing.
Take a look at yourself.
Oh everyone’s got a thumb down.
It’s a troll! Who can’t take a look at themselves because mirrors aren’t commonplace in caves or sewers.
He brought his mates along.
For those blaming fatigue for Walcott’s ACL.you need to remember that he just got back from a long layoff…meaning he had rested a lot..he was absent for over a month prior his ACL… its not fatigue..i think its down to badluck..even before the game he had only played a bit part in the match before… would you say its the training regime?? That could also be a possibility..but definitely not fatigue.. For Ramsay you might argue its fatigue..but then you have to consider that Toure has played a lot of games..even more than Ramsay..but he’s still fit.
I don’t think you understand the concept with Walcott, or you have not played football, the more frequently you play the less recovery time you need and the more fit you become. A 3 month injury layoff does not improve a players match fitness. Since Walcott was out for several months it is asking a lot that he goes from a few substitute appearances to 6 games in 3 weeks. Right afterward a dutch physio (Verheihen?) blamed Walcott’s ACL on being overplayed after returning from injury.
Maybe the physios telling Wenger that a player is now fit to play is taken to mean “back to normal and can play full games every three days without any problem.” Can’t say I imagined Wenger like that though. He doesn’t seem the type to cow physios into submission. If it turns out it is his fault I bet he’dd be surprised.
Arsene should read Le Grove as the bloke who writes that seems to know everything that is wrong with the set up at Arsenal, from training methods to squad rotation. He has all the answers too, although he has no football management experience, and from what I can gether is just a glorified office boy. Anyway I’m sure he could advise Arsene on how to keep our team fit.
Wenger doesn’t go swimming in the shallow end of the gene pool.
Of course not. He’d be worried about getting bitten by a Mourinho.
The problem with this season is that Ramsey and Walcott would make a huge difference and we don’t have the depth of City, Chelsea, Bayern etc. Gnabry and the Ox are not at Theo’s level of productivity yet.
disagree on Ox.
To be honest he did say productivity, not effort. Ox is getting there, and at a faster rate than Walcott did, but he still has a way to go to catch him up. It’s not a criticism of Ox.
Love it how every Arsenal supporter are suddenly medical experts! Lol
Great to hear Wenger will investigate the current injuries on our players! Personally, full faith in our medical staff but the fact Arsenal hired a new head of sports science, Andy Rolls, shows me our club are making positive steps to improve our club.
Arsenal will win some silverware this season! COYG!!!!
The only surprise is that we’re only just starting to look into it. Especially when you consider some of the setbacks suffered that have delayed returns
They’ve been looking at it for a few years. It’s just reached another low point so is attracting the Press, that’s all.
🙂
No need for a full investigation. Someone just send Wenger these comments, people on here have clearly got it sussed!
Yes, it’s training, fatigue, diet, poor rotation, small squad, over-zealous players who won’t acknowledge their injuries, the poor medical facilities they rebuilt from the ground up two years ago, pygmy players with glass legs, poor refs who hate us, the evil kicky opposition, and the cursed burial ground that the stadium is built on.
We’ve done all the hard work, so if he doesn’t have it fixed in time for the Spurs game then I’m afraid it’s…..
WENGER OUT!!!!!!
Now he wants to figure out why this happens ? We have had this problem with injuries ever since he came to London. Sometimes if not all the time, i gett embarrassed by his Comments, this club needs new blood from head to toe. Bould was a great appointment, but we need several more changes throughout the club, we have run the club in the same way for years, and expected that the result would be different, but it is not happening.
At Madrid, Ozil played 36, 35 and 32 league games each reason respectively. He comes to Arsenal…gets injured. Maybe it’s just bad luck, our style of play or maybe every team thinks they are unlucky with injuries but we sure as hell seem to get our fair share of them.
Get Dr Diaby on the case
I think a lot of injuries are linked to the types of footwear that players wear…. modern boots might make control and speed improved but I think they lack protection plus I have my doubts about the configuration of the studs/blades
Long overdue.
The est thing about this story is that I never knew how many medical professionals read and commented on this blog.
In sickness we’ll be spoiled for choice 😉
I’m not a doctor, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Maybe you can help me then. I’ve had a lump in my shorts for a while now, and all of the ladies I’ve asked to take a look at it have suddenly remembered that they had urgent business to attend to and ran off up the street…..
We are top of the league, say we are top the league.
http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_premier_league/epl_injury_table.php
Bloody Hell!!!! Bendtner injured his knee rubbing his bits up that taxi and they don’t know how long he’ll be out.
Full investigation? Send in Hank Shradeur. Oh, Heisengerg killed him. Colombo? Damn, he’s gone too. Is Scooby Doo still alive? Seriously though, it’s good to know Wenger is going to take a good look at it. There may be a few shaking in their boots now. I actually hope and pray it is down to a Spud doctor in our medical team. At least that will be easy to fix. If it’s something as complex as our style of play, it could be a little tricky to fix. I would love to believe it’s bad luck. Far too many injuries… Read more »
Best comment so far on this subject.
With the assistance of a professional Medium, Wenger holds a locker room séance.
…Bendtner knocks once, but Wenger tells him to put her down and concentrate.
It took AW quite a while for this step. How long have we fans been complaining about the ridiculously long injury list?! It was quite obvious for everyone that it’s abnormal. And he’s finally taking action!
Btw, he should try some Feng shui methods too…just in case.
What do you think our brand new state of the art medical facilities were built for??? We’ve only had them a couple of years. If that isn’t trying I don’t know what is.
I blame your shitty socialized medicine
Maybe it’s the way we play apart from the 2 centerbacks we ask the rest of the to play box to box, with no quick striker we play through teams some times over playing inviting tackles ,we have the likes of ozil,casorla , doing far to much defending they ain’t up to it ! I think we need to buy stronger midfielders to protect the flair players , and change the diet the med food ain’t working they need substance ! Bit of liver and Onions should do it !
I’m not going to offer a medical evaluation as I am not a doctor. However, I feel our injuries are down partly to foul luck and partly down to the fact we are a team full of technical players (many of which are not as robust as Giroud). Technical players get kicked alot in the premier league partly because the English media pedal the agenda technical players being kicked are part and parcel of the game, and partly because more sluggish opposing players are too slow to deal with our speed of movement and have to resort to fouls. More… Read more »
I find it kind of odd that Arsenal would only now audit their medical/training methods rather than when we had to play a four CB defense, or when van Persie reportedly demanded a change as a condition to re-signing, or when Wilshere experienced 570 setbacks and ended up being out 15 months, or (feel free to finish this list).
We either have a lot of new fans, or else a lot of old fans weren’t paying attention when Mr Bloggs told us about his visit to the brand spanking new medical facilities that were supposed to ensure our injured players got better treatement, and that all our players got more scientific training, etc etc.
Oh, and Wilshire was injured playing for England and the team doctor is the ex-Arsenal team doctor. We wondered if things would improve after he left, but they carried on just the same.
the Seven Dwarves got crushed by one Toure. That’s the answer
We are currently leading the Injury league with 227 Points averaging 8.17 injuries Per week. United is second with 160 Points, followed by Villa with 157 and Spurs with 150. A player gets 1 point for each week he is out injured. So we have 227 weeks of injury combined this season. And unless i am mistaken i believe we have been fighting in the very top of this league for many consecutive years now, winning it several times, Just to bad there is no trophy to be won 🙂 Coincidence? Sure if this happened once in a while every… Read more »
We already replaced our medical staff and their facilities. It’s unlikely to be them. That should also eliminate diet as a factor.
There is a possibilty of bringing someone in. He’s a bit of a nob after his celebration, but Nic Anelka is now a free agent after being sacked. He can be signed by anyone, for free…right now. He’s past his best, but a six month contract may be worth it? He’s a body at least, seeing as Wenger has lost patience with Bendy.
He has a habit of winning stuff, too.
It really doesn’t take a genius to work out that it’s because our squad isn’t big enough. Soft tissue and stress injuries were always going to be a problem.
Can’t do anything about an ACL, though. That is just bad luck.