Danny Welbeck has said that concerns over Sutton United’s artificial pitch are behind his absence for tonight’s FA Cup 5th round clash.
Many were surprised to see the England international play for the U23s against Leicester yesterday, especially as he’d scored two goals in the previous round against Southampton.
It’s the kind of fixture that would normally help him on his way back to full fitness, but it seems there are concerns about how his knee might react to a different kind of surface.
Tweeting about his run-out yesterday, Welbeck said:
Glad to get 70 minutes today to build up my match fitness. Plastic pitch at Sutton isn't the best idea at the moment. #COYG
— Danny Welbeck (@DannyWelbeck) February 19, 2017
If Arsenal get through tonight, Welbeck will certainly have a chance in the quarter-finals, after the draw took place last night.
The winners of Sutton v Arsenal will host non-league Lincoln City, and with Chelsea drawing Manchester United, at least one of the other big boys is going to be out of the way too.
Please don’t cock this up Arsenal.
Just wondering if Le Prof said he knew his team vs Sutton since a week ago, and that Welbeck won’t be part of the squad, why did he not even get minutes against Bayern?
I hope Danny stays fit for the rest of the season and helps Le Prof lift another FA cup trophy though! I was gutted when he got injured and missed our Cup final game after scoring the winner against Man United in the quarters a few seasons back!
Very little gained in a few minutes against Bayern regarding match fitness for Welbz. His confidence might have suffered though. Maybe that´s the reason Tatoo. By the way Xhaka´s Tatoo, are saying that Xhaka is from the planet Tatooine? http://www.starwars.com/databank/tatooine
…a lawless place ruled by Hutt gangsters. Fits his disciplinary record
I believe both Xhaka and Obi-wan Iwobi both grew up in Tatooine.
I think Obi-wan Iwobi also grew up in Tatooine.
Sounds a sensible move… we should have enough to beat them
The draw has been extremely kind to us. You would expect a wembley trip the minimum now.
I hope for the sake of my sanity (and Arsene’s dignity), the lads don’t just turn up and expect Sutton to roll over die because its not going to happen!. We need a strong team and 100% focus from the start to kill the game off…..Its a home game on their pitch and they are going to be all fired up for this one, plus they must be thinking, if there ever was a chance, it has to be now that Arsenal will be short of confidence coming off the back of a hammering from Bayern? So, this is going… Read more »
Hope we absolutely cream them. I’m all for the magic of the cup, but when a team kicks off their usual sponsors in favour of the sun, and their players talk about hoping to “leave their mark” on our players, they can fuck right off
Did someone mouth off about leaving mark on our players? A knee in the gonads of that someone please.
Fair play to Welbz. I hope this shuts up the shrieking babies melting into magma with every piece of news coming from Arsenal these days.
As for concerns about the pitch, I can tell you that today’s modern artificial surfaces absolutely favor a quick passing team like Arsenal. Passes all run perfectly true. Knee injuries are more common though, as the pitches are a bit too grippy, so Welbeck is right to be concerned. Very few players, if any, wear the designed rubber cleat turf shoes that are supposed to mitigate the extra grip. The big concern is with players who turn on a dime like Sanchez, although I would not be surprised if he sits out anyway.
So we need to pass quickly but not do any running about, changing direction, or tackling.
Injuries are not so common to be any sort of constant fear, but knee injuries, especially ACL damage are somewhat more common than on grass. As far as tackling, turf burns are a given.