Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Gabriel is fit to face Everton having missed Arsenal’s last two games against Watford and Bayern Munich.
The Brazil international picked up a problem during the Interlull but has now returned to full training giving the Gunners the option to rest either Laurent Koscielny or Per Mertesacker after their heroics on Tuesday.
The boss also reaffirmed that Aaron Ramsey will be out for up to four weeks with a hamstring injury. It’s a blow for the Welshman who has been plagued by muscular problems in seasons past. Fingers crossed his recovery is straightforward and he’s back to help with the busy festive schedule.
Mikel Arteta will also miss the clash against the Toffees having picked up an ankle problem in training.
“We lost Arteta on Thursday with an ankle problem,” said Wenger. “From the [Bayern] game we have no injuries but we lost Arteta [in training] yesterday unfortunately.”
David Ospina, Tomas Rosicky, Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere are all long-term absentees.
Tricky, given the strong form of Kos and Per. But worst case he gets run out in midweek.
Looking forward to being at the match. COYR.
Funny how there’s no more cries for us to sign a new defender. Can’t think of many who stood up to Costa face-to-face.
With a few injuries it’s now that we can see the strength of the squad.
I just hope we don’t go into this match thinking it’ll be easier than Bayern since Everton had a week to prepare.
Get behind them and show the army is united as ever.
Forever COYG!!!
The mindset might be we beat United 3 nil, United beat Everton 3 nil…
Hopefully they get maximum confidence with zero complacency.
Should be 9 nil then. Here’s hoping!
I’d be happy with 6.
Or 1 nil.
Who is this WENEGR blogs?
Love the tenacity of Gabriel. He’ll be a key element in our back line for years to come.
Hate being a prick for this blogs but: Wenegr. Wenegr. Wenegr.
Not me! Blame the Arseblog News Hound …
You’d think a by-line would make things more clear.
Like the Arsenal News Hound one given above?
By-line doesn’t show on the mobile page.
There’s teamwork
Not an issue – see the disclaimer: “Poor grammar and spelling mistakes all my own work.”
It’s for situations just like this that packets of peanuts on American airlines carry the warning “May contain nuts”, and the labels on some children’s T-shirts carry the warning “Remove child from shirt before putting in washing machine”.
…because you can’t get a child clean if you leave the t-shirt on when you put it in the washing machine.
“Contains nuts” is written on the back of the Chelsea Team Coach.
Poor Arteta, robbed of a chance…….on the bench. Robbed!
Not sure how Arteta can be made fun of in any situation. This guy gives everything and works hard behind the scenes. He says all the right things and must be a great leader to the younger players. He has coaching potential as well.
I feel bad for him because he will miss a chance to face his old team, even just a sub appearance.
Arteta and Per may not be typical Arsenal players. But to me they give their 100% on and off the pitch and are great leaders. They both took it upon themselves to be a gooner. I for one will surely miss them when they leave. If TR7 represents our style of football, Arteta and Per represent the values of this club.
Wenegr… I like it
Hey Blogs,who is this Wenegr that you speak of?
I like my chips with plenty of salt and Wenegr. Ok I’ll get my coat
Gabriel always makes you think twice…..i love this guy
I think we should call him Wenegr more often, sounds more aggressive somehow.
Can he play at DM?
Yes, but only when Coq says he can.
Wenegr is made from aesthetic acid…brrrr…where’s my puffy coat?
If we are within the top bracket in January (when most of our long-term absentees are expected back), then I will put us as favourites for the title.
We usually have a strong end to the season and the fixture list is tailor made for that with a stretch of “winnable” games towards the end.
Welbeck, Wilshere, Rosicky and now, Ramsey – all coming back about the same time. I believe.
“They’re still soft,” Keane told ITV Sport . “Just because they beat Bayern Munich [doesn’t change that]. I thought they’d get a result. They were desperate for a result. “I’ve said all along they’re a top quality team going forward, but they rode their luck again last night and the goalkeeper made some good saves. “They’ve still got a lot to do to get out of the group” “They have to do it more often,” Keane added. “Even the manager said some European games, he’s not sure if the team is up for it. “It is very easy to raise… Read more »
Keane is a bitter git who has always had a problem with Arsenal. I saw him say all that and the faces on the other pundits were brilliant with a “yeah what ever Roy, let’s move on shall we?” kind of a look.
If you go ahead with your threat against Keane, I’d more than happily hold your coat for you. Perhaps we can extend this agreement to Mike Dean and Maureen too?
tapps, can you film the ‘smash’ whilst holding his coat please……pretty please!
Everybody knows roy keane is biased against arsenal…….he is just a loud mouthed anti arsenal prick, turned pundit(?), who has to keep saying something, even if he is talking rubbish, to justify his pay cheque……btw, the above definition imo also describes that idiot michael owen!
One biased idiot… too, get te fu%k Keane…. Twat…
It’s awesome that whatever centreback pairing is named in the starting XI we no longer go into a panicked rage.
…..when it’s two of Koscielny, Mertesacker, and Gabriel.
Two injuries at the same time and I suspect the panic will return. How could it not on here? We’re already 14 comments into this conversation, so I’m surprised that Fatgooner and friends haven’t already begun the rage.
Jake needs to be back asap.
Cazorla is doing wonders in the middle of the park and I believe jack can learn from him and make that position his own one day (i say this as he is already playing there for england).
Coq and him are arguably the most aggressive and passionate lads and to have them in the middle will keep the tempo high more often.
Bruh! That’s what I feel too man.
Feeling Jackie is more suited to take over the mantle from Santi as he has better close control on the ball and a good passing range.
Surely, Santi has much much better close control on the ball than Jack. It is the most important reason why he has been so successful in that position.
Which is why I said he can learn from santi. Santi is much superior when it comes to ball control but jack aint too shabby either, remember how he toyed with na$ri at emirates and how his close control led to his goal.
I love Gabriel, he is already a true Gunner. He’s a beast, Martin Keown mark two, South American styling….
With Ramsey, Jack, Welbeck, Arteta all out our bench looks very thin. I worry that Sanchez, Oezil and Santi are gonna need a rest — but who can come in for them? Ox has had a lot of injury problems too and if Ramsey is out for a while he could become a concern. The defense situation is looking good though.
The man that is hard to replace at the moment is Santi.
Coquelin has reasonable back up with Arteta and Flamini.
Metersceilny now have Gabriel to rotate through them.
Walcott and GIroud can take turns and are different tools for the same purpose.
But Santi is the other half that makes Coqzorla tick. We noticed his immediate impact
when he was restored next to Coquelin in front of an admitedly inexperienced pair of Gabriel/Chambers against Liverpool.
More than anyone-else, Santi’s position is difficult to rotate at the moment.
Love me some Mezut