Arsene Wenger has revealed that Francis Coquelin does not require surgery on the knee injury he picked up against West Brom, but confirmed that the midfielder would be out of action for 3 months, rather than the 2 first suggested.
To be fair, it was put as ‘at least’ 2 months the other day and results of the scan have shown he’ll need a bit longer to make his comeback.
Confirming the ligament damage, Wenger said this evening, “It is what we feared basically. Let’s be realistic, it will be 12 weeks.
“He does not need surgery. It was a knee ligament so it will be 12 weeks.”
That would, all going according to schedule, see him return towards the end of February, but it’s worth remembering there will be fitness/sharpness issues to contend with also.
Anyway, good luck to him. Here’s to a problem free recovery without the words ‘set’ or ‘back’ used anywhere along the way.
Oh well. January reinforcements a must now. Get well soon Coq!
That’s a result as far as I’m concerned. Not ideal by any stretch of the imagination but when it happened all I could think of was Walcott vs Sp**s… We’ll have him back for our glorious run in to the title!!
Comes Jan window, we sign no one as Le Coq will be fit soon, then 1st of Feb we will have the news that Le Coq needs operation and he will be fit for the start of next season. And in the summer no need to sign an outfield player as we have a LANS holding midfielder.
Welbeck anyone?
I’m pretty sure we will buy someone in January. Maybe not an all-out DM, but someone versatile who can do the job. In the mean time Ramsey in the middle, and Campbell on the right, will do. Furthermore, Walcott and Chamberlain will come back soon.
On what historical evidence are you basing your opinion that we’ll buy someone in January? Kim Kjallstrom doesn’t count.
Monreal and Gab were pretty decent January buys, we don’t need a marquee just a good upcoming holding mid
Last year we got Gabriel. The year before Kim I believe we got Monreal. Those pickups seem to be good historical evidence that we can and will find a DM.
I hope we do get a good DM to compete with Coq.
However, both those historical references where reactive*, just like this one would be. I just hope we don’t loose ground before we address the current problem.
*A CB addition should have been bought 6 months earlier. Even Monreal deal was speed up when Gibbs got injured – other wise reading bloggers update, it would have been pushed out to the following window.
Someone versatile who can do the job like Ramsey? I don’t think Wenger is going to want add another versatile midfielder to our squad when we already have the likes of Ramsey and Wilshere playing on the wing or from the bench when everyone’s fit. I think Wenger will definitely try to sign someone, as I always expected us to replace Flamini/Arteta next summer, and this should bring that forward by half a year. But I think it’ll depend on who is available, and who may be available in the summer, as our second DM needs to be someone who… Read more »
We’re fucked if we count on Wilshere this year. Ramsey is okay but he has to cover the right winger position.
Get well as soon as possible Coq! Hope there will be no Set backs!
We found rhythm today, even without Le Coq. Players played like there was a fire under their bum. We need urgency and consistency every game for us to have a chance of staying in the race, staying competitive in whatever tourney we are in. Players coming back from fitness will make this possible. COME ON YOU GUNNERS
It could have been much, much worse. Now with any luck at all we’ll get him fully fit just in time for our run through the Champions League elimination round. Hopefully no-one else goes down now. We’ve had our share for the season.
it reminded me of the tackle that Fabregas injured himself on year’s ago.
3 month out plus 2-4 weeks getting match fitness up. I’m thinking we need some cover in January in CM. Not sure we can even bank on Wilshere and Ramsey staying injury-free the rest of the year.
Not saying he is our savior out this dog shit situation having Le Coq out for so long, but did no one else apart from me and my dad think Flamini actually played quite well tonight? He’s not the answer to the problem and I think Rambo will probably be the one required to fill in as well, but as far as things go I have faith we can get through this period till he’s back.
Officially Anointed as an Arsenal player.
Just when we thought we could have a carefree transfer window with no need for our usual desperate need for a signing.
Hopefully we can find an appropriate replacement to strap on while he’s away.
haha I see what you did there
A Rambo/Santi midfield seem obvious since it worked with Rambo/Arteta, however Santi is more active than Arteta so he’d have to take the regista/deep playmaker role. It’s possible.
Everytime I see Kondogbia play for Inter I feel we missed out big time, let’s not miss again in January and get Carvalho, more than enough as a cover, plays cb also, and on cold nights in Stoke would partner up with Coq makin sure no one bullies our shiny Ozil
This isn’t looking good for our title aspirations. I hope AW brings forward any DM purchase he had in mind for next summer. We looked way too open today for our own good. I know we won but they went through midfield almost unchallenged and that is down to Coqulein’s absence.
That’s 7 games we need to manage before the January window opens. Reinforcements are a must at this point.
A limp coq for 3 months? Come back stronger.
Unless it’s “Back three weeks early to Set us up nicely for the run-in”.
I wouldn’t mind hearing that so much.
Get well soon Francis!
Thank goodness because no one enjoys coq surgery.
Can we take McCarthy from Everton or Yacob from WestBrom? Any of them can do the job and Im sure wont have a problem sitting on the bench when Le Coq returns. They also wont draw too much scrutiny/criticism. Just saying, Im not a good scout.
Wasn’t it a 50/50 with Yacob in which Coq got injured? Would be some kind of irony if he was then signed as Coq’s replacement. I wouldn’t get your hopes up about McCarthy, though; Everton have some aspirations and he’s a part of that.
Hopefully not like welbeck’s injury that didn’t require surgery…then 3 months later did…
He’s going to get a playmaker in Jan.
Also based on his performance against Southampton and his cameos, Chambers should not be played DM. His inexperience in the role was evident again last night. He got caught on the ball in a dangerous area and when 3-0 up against tiring limited opposition that’s a recipe for disaster. He needs games for the U21’s in this role before he should ever be considered in the first team. Leave Flamini in this role or tell Ramsey to sit back more against the better teams.
Chambers needs a loan spell, he ain’t ready yet, simple as. BTW; when can we get Hayden back and how is he doing, anyone know?
Chambers needs a loan spell in the Championship imo, he’s not ready for first team. Plus he’s far too slow for RB (see Bellerin) or DM…. (I’m not sure that he knows his best position yet) he’s young and needs more experience at the tough end, needs practical experience at this stage, but not in the Arsenal first team. No disrespect meant.
He’s set to be back in 3 month.. Whoops!
Here’s an idea: Debuchy at DM. George Graham used to play Martin Keown in that position sometimes. Considering that Debuchy won’t get game time at RB any time soon, he could welcome a go at DM.
You clearly don’t remember the groans around Highbury the moment Keown used to come on in midfield do you? Excellent centre back, my favourite of that era but terrible midfielder.
I actually think of all our defenders the most capable in that role would probably be Gibbs, he’s quick, mobile, good passer, good tackler and has a defensive brain, i could actually see him working in a 3 man midfield with Cazorla and Ramsey.
Oh injury gods,
Why, why are you so cruel?
Go torment the spuds.
“Coquelin set for Christmas return off the back of miraculous recovery”
That’s a headline with the words “set” and “back” that would be very welcome!
Gutted for him but also for the team I guess we all knew it was coming
Good luck coq
Whilst he isnt LeCoq , Flamini has more than enough about him to partner Santi or Rambo should the boss choose especially against limited oposition like Villa & Sunderland . A nice shiny new DM to lighten Coqs load would be wekcome though .