Arsene Wenger has backed Danny Welbeck to fulfill his potential, but admitted the striker had suffered during his second serious injury since joining the club.
Having made his comeback last February after a bad knee injury, the 26 year old damaged his meniscus against Man City in April, leading to another significant lay-off.
He made his comeback at Deepdale during the 2-1 win over Preston in the FA Cup, and the Arsenal manager spoke about how difficult it had been for him during that time.
“The patience you need when you have an injury at that age… it’s terrible,” he said.
“To miss the European Championship and on top of he missed the start of the season, but he worked hard.
“You have to go through it and that was a very difficult moment for him. I think he suffered a lot, but I hope, touch wood, he will now have a dream career.”
And on the specifics of being out for that length of time, he said, “When the players are injured they are a little bit out of my sight because I sent him away as well.
“When a player has a long-term injury, sometimes it’s better you get him out and away, that he lives without the players and people who are injured as well.
“Because when he comes in he sees everybody go out there and you have to stay inside… the football club is built for people who are competitive. So sometimes mentally it’s difficult, so we let him go outside and miss this time.
“Of course we spoke with him a lot, but at the end of the day, when something like that happens to you, you deal with it on your own.
“But we try to support him, of course.”
Great guy, please stay fit. A front two of Welbz + Alexis is worth half a dozen goals a season purely through relentless pressuring of nervy defenders.
With more than half the league playing with 3 centre backs (at least againts us), playing with 2 strikers actually makes sense. On the other hand whilst a 442 has no place for Oezil; a 352 demands more first quality centre backs.
Way off topic, but I wanted to talk about our current midfield situation. Aside from the fact that Ramsey and Xhaka haven’t played well in either of the games they have started together, it is very risky to expect them to play every game for the next 3 to 4 weeks. Considering that, including Wilshere, we have 6 central midfielders for 2 positions, there is no way we are signing one permanently for a temporary problem. We could sign a player on loan, but how good are they likely to be (Kallstrom). Jon Toral has 6 months left on his… Read more »
I love the simplicity of 442 but demands discipline and graft. Ozil aside, do you think Ox or Walcott would fit in a 442? Or even Iwobi?
Personally I am most happy with a double pivot (Vieira-Gilberto!) and Oezil. We got really good fullbacks in Bellerin and Monreal, so the width is assured. Perez, Welbeck, Sanchez, Iwobi are all excellent at buzzing around. A more disciplined Ramsey, or a more confident Elneny would make a helluva difference. Xhaka has improved a lot on his positioning. So I’m optimistic about others…
Welbz Sanchez Perez? As a front three? That’s a hard working front three at the very least and they will defend from the front.
Big fan of Perez and want to see him get more game time, but his defending needs a lot of work; doesn’t look like he likes getting stuck in at the moment.
I agree …and it is surprising because I recollect reading how he was a hard working attacker when the news broke of his signing. Maybe we can put it down to acclimatising to a new league/system and the brief given to him: get close to the goal and put them away.
Exactly, defending starts from the front. Would hate to be a defender with those three swarming about.
“Wellbeck suffered… injury nightmare” – this is a very scary headline
Perhaps let him do some charity work while he is injured for people with real problems and perhaps it would give him some perspective and stop him feeling sorry for himself.
“Because when he comes in he sees everybody go out there and you have to stay inside…” Cry me a river.
No wonder we struggle with the mentality at our club.
Surprised you had the time to write this in-between the charity work you do with every ounce of spare time you have.
He without sin and all that.
This is pretty silly.
a) You have no idea what he does or doesn’t do for charity anyway, and b) it’s completely irrelevant.
Leave aside the money he earns, and look at it from a human point of view. He’s been injured for 9 months, playing football is his life, it must be difficult to deal with, the physical rehab and everything else.
I do sometimes wonder whether Arsene and us, as a squad, have too much perspective. Arsene is an intelligent man and tends to sign (relatively) intelligent players. Perhaps they know too well that there is more to life than the myopic, hyperbolic, media frenzy of modern football. Do top sports people often lack perspective? I would think it likely they often do, instead having a very narrow focus on success in their chosen field. Maybe we lack a lacking of perspective? Does this mean we are too ready to accept defeat? Just my Monday musings.
That may be the most appallingly crass and insensitive comment I’ve ever read on this site, and there’ve been a few. Shame on you.
To quote FrankTheTank: “‘Who’s that trip trapping over my bridge?’”
I’d love to see us play a 4-4-2 where any combination of Giroud, Welbeck, Alexis and Perez could slot in. Alas, the manager makes the decisions.
So many options up top. All Plan A Alexis and Walcott or Giroud and Alexis or Giroud and Lucas (They are forming a really good telepathic understanding) or Welbeck. The risk area at the moment are at Lback until the injury prone Gibbs returns and crucially in midfield. Granit is a bit exposed (until Coquelin returns). I don’t see the absent Elneny as a viable DM, he is more a squad player IMO. He doesn’t bring the extra aggression that Coquelin does or the playmaking/assist ability of Granit. What he brings is lungs (which in itseldf is a positive I… Read more »