Arsene Wenger has allayed fears that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain won’t play again this season by revealing the England midfielder has returned to training.
After nearly two months out with a groin problem the 21-year-old won’t be fit enough to make the trip to Hull City on Monday night, but it’s positive news nonetheless.
Rumours had circulated last week that the Ox might require surgery. He’s made 35 appearances this season, including 25 starts, and was a mainstay in the starting XI until getting injured at Old Trafford in March.
Speaking ahead of the trip to the KC Stadium, Wenger told his pre-game press conference: “We have basically a full squad. The only who is a doubt is Debuchy. Chamberlain is not completely ready. Diaby trains.
“Arteta is making progress week by week but he needs more time.
The boss added: “I am happy with the depth of the squad because I have many top international players who sometimes cannot make the squad.”
I’m also Happy with the depth of the Squad.
Now, Let’s Wrap up second in preparation for the title run next season.
Ox to provide the 88th minute assist for the FA Cup winning goal…?!
A comfortable, non-nerve-wracking three nil victory should suffice, I think.
Hopefully scored by Mesut Ozil to shut the sky sports wankers up from their bullshit about how he never delivers in big games
They will only move the goal posts, like other ‘neutral’ fans do. “Arsenal are shit, they haven’t won anything in 10 years” – ‘We won the FA Cup last year and in the final this year’ “Meh, then they don’t win enough trophies” – ‘We’ve won more trophies than any other team in London by a long shot’ “Yeah, but you haven’t won the Prem in 15 years” – ‘We won it in 2001-02 and went unbeaten in 2003-04 through the entire league.’ “Yeah, I meant you haven’t won the Premier League in a decade” – ‘We haven’t, no, this… Read more »
You sound like Jose Moaninho
“Yeah, but you haven’t won the CL trophy, everyone knows that you’re only a big team if you win that trophy”
Does that make villa and forest ‘big teams’ then?
Even if we win the PL and CL next year they’ll say it’s a one-off.
Imagine this was beginning of the season..And the squad was this big…
With the exception of Gabriel and Bielek (sp?), the squad was this big at the start of the season. The difference is that back then, we had half a dozen players who’d had no rest and no pre-season because of the World Cup, and another half dozen who were out injured. We don’t need a whole lot of additions this summer, and we definitely don’t want to be buying simply for the sake of buying. One Ozil/Sanchez type signing will be enough – we can afford to be very, very picky. With the squad we’ve got, even if we don’t… Read more »
* Gabriel and Bielek (sp?) AND COQUELIN *
I agree, for the most part. The problem is that for the last few seasons, we’ve been far too susceptible to injuries. If we had a much better injury record, then I’m sure we would have pushed for the title on more than a couple of occasions over the last few years. The worry is that we constantly gamble on our players remaining fit and it’s cost us almost every year. This year, I believe the likes of Arteta and Flamini will be on their way. Diaby is also apparently going to be on a pay as you play contract,… Read more »
Chambers is also a “back up” centre back.
I can’t see AW wanting to lose Flamini and the club captain, two defensive MFs at the same time. I think the Flamster is gone this summer and Arteta will go next summer.
Will Rosicky stay when he’s unlikely to get many (if any) starts?
I hope he does stay but I doubt he will.
Well said. good points.
big season coming up for the Ox if he can stay fit. he’s such a prospect, combines the direct running through the lines of TR7 with a belter of a shot, a la Poldi, and the energy of Sanchez, not to mention that decent burst of speed reminiscent of Theo. Just needs to develop the control of Ozil so that he’s not losing the ball when playing deep quite so often, and he’d be some kind of cyborg perfect footballer. Not much to ask, really.
I do love the Ox but he really needs to improve his general understanding of football.The ball will always move faster than he can so he needs to understand that dribbling is a means to an end not the end it self. Dribbling and passing one or two will always look good on camera but wont always lead to assists or goals. He needs to concentrate on running off the ball and getting into dangerous positions behind the defence. Also quicker passing and his overall ball distribution. As a young talent you need to learn and finess as many different… Read more »
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that players on our wings dribble more. Might be part of a gameplan.
It’s tough to asses a general understanding, I think the Ox is at a good level for that already and it’s more that he’s trying too hard to impress, thinking that he needs to carry. Actually, that is understanding the game too, so I agree.
Lots of potential, and the right attitude mean he’s poised to go a long way. Unlike some other potentially good young Englishmen thata re around.
Everyone talks about what Arsenal need to win the league. We always “need” this or that but why can’t the needs be fulfilled by what we have? We have a great squad that when fully fit and in form can beat anyone including Chelsea. We miss out again this season due to 3 games in my opinion. Man u at home, Southampton away and Swansea away. We should have had won at Liverpool when they scored in the last seconds. So small margins which really don’t support the arguments of the players that we need. We were without Giroud, Ozil… Read more »
Yes and the fact that Webger experimented with the new 4-1-4-1 formation to provide my cover to the defence. That took bit of time to get used to as well. I don’t think wenger needs to change the formation again for next season plus there is no World Cup hangover and no 2 extra games to qualify for CL. So it’s better all around.
It’s you, isn’t it, Arsene? Your post sounds just like the deluded thoughts of Le Prof. We failed to win the league because we were weak in three key areas: a goalkeeper, a world-class striker and a top-quality defensive midfielder. If everybody had remained fit this season (I know, unlikely) we still would not have won the title. And by the way: whose idea was it not to sign the extra centre-half we desperately needed until the January window? And who believed that Arteta was a defensive midfielder, and only replaced him with the recalled Coq when forced to by… Read more »
I don’t agree. As a starting point next season we are already miles ahead from what we had last year. By that I don’t just mean in terms of people who have been brought in eg Gabriel and Coquelin, but also the fact that they actually know how to play with each other and are clearly a better unit than at the beginning of the season. Maybe we could bring in one or two new additions over the summer but the unquantifiable benefit of having a group of players that know and understand each other much better already puts us… Read more »
I think he is fixed main areas like DM and CH. We may need two or three players in summer and then we will be ok.
Look I understand the frustrations believe me, no one is more pissed off with repetitive mistakes that we do seem to make year in year out. But personnel wise well you can’t really say we need a goal keeper when the supposed bad keeper we have was joint winner of the clean sheet golden glove for the previous season. Equally the criticism Per Mertersaker gets is very unfair if you really watch the number of interceptions the guy makes and Koscielny is one the best in the league. Are they capable of making mistakes? Yes. Does it mean you through… Read more »
Oooh fats, you are such a tease…
i’m really not sure how much credit arsene deserves for this season. we got off to an awful start when he neglected to buy cover at CB and shoehorned jack into the team at the expense of ozil. when you look at our current set up it looks like arsene has taken a page from mou’s handbook – a powerful DM paired with a former number 10 spanish playmaker alongside. which isn’t rocket science (although i prefer ramsey in the B2B role), but it still took a lot of injuries to force arsene into this change. if arteta, flamini and… Read more »
There is a difference between “neglecting” and “being unable to”. Do you seriously think Wenger simply decided not to buy a centre back? Or is it more likely that he tried really hard to find one that fit his plans but none were available for a price he was willing to pay? I don’t remember there being a whole lot of centre backs that were good enough for Arsenal being for sale last summer. The one that we had the most interest in, I forget his name, ended up going to Serie A because he wasn’t going to be guaranteed… Read more »
how is selling a CB (vermaelen) without first identifying a replacement not negligent? and the fact that he was injured isn’t an excuse because i don’t think anyone at the time knew the extent of his injury – barca wouldn’t have spent $15 million on him if they’d known he was going to be out for the season. there is always someone available for the right price and sometimes you need to settle for a stop gap rather than a long term solution when the latter isn’t available. it’s not utterly disingenuous…it’s actually a pretty fair assessment of the manager… Read more »
It’s not negligent to sell Vermaelen, because Vermaelen still has yet to successfully play for Barca.
If,anyhow Ox can add end product to his game and remain healthy,then he can be one of the best attacking player of the league.hope we can see the best of him in 2015/16.
COYG
That weird moment when the entire squad has been fit.
since 2005.
Shame really. The positives would be that he would set up another winning goal against THOSE mancs.
Would love to get 2nd spot wrapped up as soon as possible, then let Diaby have a couple of run outs before he probably heads off this summer. Would be great to see him playing again.
I love Diaby, and would love to see him play for the mighty Arsenal again.
2nd is in the bag as well as another win at Manure (have a look at our home games against inferior teams coming up)
COYG and in Arsene I trust (Fats)!
Oxcellent!
Why should Diaby be given another contract when he can only play two games a season. Note that he has pocketed 65k for five years without working for it. Mind you he’s 29 and his legs can’t take it anymore.
Arsenal is not a charity club
No, but we can afford to be charitable … IMO it’s one of the many things that set Arsenal apart. Class, if you will. That said the Diaby thing has gone on for a while. I saw him recently in a U21 game and he dominated completely. Man and boys kind of thing. Bromance maybe, but I would keep him around to mentor the younger players. Of course, if he were willing, and at a lower price.